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ON A PINCUSHION.

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ON A PINCUSHION

And other Fairy Tales

MARY DE MORGAN

2$ I .

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CONTENTS.

■♦♦-

The Story of Vain Lamorna
The Seeds of Love .

The Story of the Opal

SlEGFRID AND HANDA

The Hair Tree
A Toy Princess
Through the Fire .

PACK

4

27

57

74
100

153
177

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wmmM-

I N a pincushion were a
pebble Brooch, a jet
Shawl-pin, and a com-
j mon Pin. They were all com-
plaining because they were so
| often left behind instead of be-
ing taken out like the other
| brooches and pins.

' It is all very well for you,"
| said the Shawl-pin, " but for me
it is trying, because I have seen
f better days, and remember the
| time when I was never used to
I pin up anything but the finest
Indian and Cashmere shawls."
' Nay," cried the Brooch, " you
| cannot expect to be used as
,uch as I, for you are all black.
I and would not be taken for any-
thing but a dark shawl. But I

2 On a Pincushion.

am all sorts of colours, and therefore might be
used any day. I would sooner have been left
uncut, unpolished, than brought to this."

" I don't think," said the Pin, " that either of you
have as much cause to complain as I, for you are
neither of you as useful, and might not be wanted,
but I am always needed, and so many pins are
taken every day that it seems hard I should be
left here for nearly a week, and all because I am
run so far into the pincushion that nothing but
my head can be seen."

After a pause the Shawl-pin said, " I wish those
Bracelets up there would leave off chattering.
There's nothing disturbs my nerves so much as
the clatter of talking."

" Bracelets are always great talkers," said the
Brooch. " I once passed two months in a jewel-
box with a number, and I was truly thankful
when I was taken out. Their talking was in-
cessant, and it was impossible to get a wink of
sleep." And all three scowled up at the Bracelets,
who were hanging over the looking-glass, but who
did not mind them in the l^ast, but went on talking
just the same. " Let us do something to drown
their noise," said the Pin. " Let us tell stories."

On a Pincushion. 3

" I will tell you one," said the Brooch, " and I
know it to be true, for it was before I was cut and
polished, and I was at the place myself where it
happened;" and having cleared its throat, the
Brooch began as follows.

b 2

THE STORY OF VAIN LAMORNA.

PRETTY young girl was stand-
ing by a brook, bending over
it talking to her own reflection.
" You are so pretty!" she said.
" There is not such a pretty face as yours in all
the village."

The girl's name was Lamorna, and she was the
daughter of a farmer. Every one told her she
was very pretty, and so indeed she was. She
had bright brown hair and big brown eyes, and a
mouth like a rosebud. The brook by which she
stood ran into the sea about half a mile farther
down, and it was full of water people. Water
people are a sort of elves, who live beneath the
water, and never come to the surface, because if
they were to breathe the air they would die.

The Story of Vain Lamorna. 5

They are not mermaids, but are shaped exactly
like men, only they are never more than two or
three inches high. They are very kindly and well-
disposed towards hu-
man beings, and 1
never hurt any one I
who does not hurt [
them.

But when the little I
water people flitted I
up and down under
the water, and heard I
what Lamorna said
as she bent over the
brook, they shook
their heads and sighed |
and said, —

" Lamorna ! La-
morna! you will come
to no good end if you
are so vain." But
Lamorna did not hear
them, and went on
just the same, watch-
ing her fair face, and

6 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

smiling that she might see her pretty row of
white teeth ; and there she stayed till the clock
struck six, and she started away in a fright,
knowing she would be late, to get her father's
supper, and he would be angry with her.

No sooner was she gone than there came down
to the side of the brook a young fisherman, who
had been watching her unperceived. He went to
his boat, and pushing it off rowed out to sea and
began to fish. His name was Erick, and the
water people knew him well. They often watched
him, and knew that he was neither cruel nor
wicked, but always was careful not to torture the
fish he caught, but killed them at once. So they
all liked him, and threw the best fish under his
boat. To-day he seemed very sad, and sat leaning
his head on his hand, scarcely noticing his lines.

" Ah, Lamorna ! " he sighed to himself, " when
we were children you said you loved me, and
promised me to be my wife, and now you will not
speak to me, though you know how I love you."

The water people had all gathered around his
boat, and when they heard this they shook their
heads and looked very grave.

" So it is all for Lamorna," cried one, " worth-

The Story of Vain Lamorna. 7

less Lamorna, who does nothing but look at her
own reflection, and loves nothing so much as her
own pretty face."

" Who is she," said another, " that she should
scorn the love of a good young man like Erick ?
She has nothing but her good looks, and they will
soon leave her. How can we punish her ? "

" Nay," said a third ; " what good will it do to
Erick for us to punish her ? Rather let us think
how we can cure her of her vanity and win him
her love."

" But you can never cure her of her vanity*"
said the first, " as long as she can see herself in
her looking-glass or the brook ; while she can see
her own face, she will continue to be vain and
foolish."

" Then what is to be done ? " they cried ail
together ; and there was silence, till at last a very
wise old water elf spoke up and said, —

" We cannot keep her from looking in glasses
or in the brook. There is only one thing, there-
fore, to be done. It will be difficult, but it is
quite possible. We must wait till she is leaning
over the water looking at herself, and then we
must steal her reflection."

8 The Story of Vain Lamoma.

On hearing this all the elves gave a loud cheer.
" You have got it," they cried. " Ah, what a fine
thing it is to have a mind like that ! "

"If my poor dear son had not imprudently
gone over the top looking after a flying fish, and
so been suffocated, he would have grown up just
such another," said a lady elf with a sigh.

" With such a mind as that," said another old
lady elf solemnly, "one could rule countries or
take citie^."

On thi$, the old elf who had made the sugges-
tion bowed all round and smiled pleasantly, for
he was a great favourite with the lady elves, and
prided himself on his good manners.

"We now have to think," he went on, "how
this can be done, for reflections are such difficult
things to keep under water when one has got
them, and rise to the top like bubbles. We must
make a number of sand ropes to catch it with,
and all pull it down together at a given signal."

" But," said a very young elf, " she still will be
able to go and look at herself in her looking-glass."

On hearing this the elves all burst into a
scornful laugh, and would have scolded the young
elf for talking about what he did not understand ;

The Story of Vain Lamoma. g

but the wise old elf stopped them with a wave of
his hand, and said that he himself would explain
to the young elf his mistake, as he was never
angry with ignorance in the young, but he wished
rather to correct it than blame it.

" Do not suppose, my young friend," he said,
blandly, " that people have more than one reflec-
tion. It is a common mistake to suppose so, but
in reality there is only one reflection to each
object ; only, as the object moves before a glass,
the reflection moves too, so that all sides of it are
shown. If we can steal this vain girls image as
she leans over the brook, she will not be able to
see herself in any glass." He stopped, and all
the elves applauded his wisdom again ; and the
young elf felt quite ashamed of his mistake.

But now every one began to think of how this
thing was to be done, and all busied themselves
making sand ropes, with which the reflection was
to be caught and tied. They agreed that it
could be best secured by moonlight, when the
water was very smooth ; and on every moonlight
night some of them waited near the surface, to see
if it appeared, and give warning to the others.

But Lamorna of course knew nothing of all

io The Story of Vain Lamorna.

these plans, and was still happy looking at herself
in her glass, and never thinking of poor Erick.

When he came to see her in the evening, and
sat by the fire watching her, she did not notice
him, but kept her eyes fixed on the mirror over
the chimney-piece, and if he spoke to her of his
love, she would laugh and turn away. Then if
he sighed she would laugh still more and say, —

" Get yourself a wife, my good Erick ; that will
stop your sighing."

" I never can have any wife but you, Lamorna,"
he would answer.

" Then you will have to wait a long time single,"
she returned merrily ; " I do not mean to marry for
ages — perhaps never — certainly not a fisherman."

One night, when he went in to see her, he found
her standing at the door looking at the moon,
which shone brightly.

" Let us take a walk," he said ; " let us go down
to the sea."

" Yes," said Lamorna, " I will come ;" and first
she ran into the house, and fetched a scarlet
handkerchief, and tied it over her head, not
because she was cold, but because she thought it
made her look prettier.

The Story of Vain Latnorna. n

" Let us go down to the waters edge," said she,
taking Ericks arm ; and then they strolled down
to the beach together.

The sea was smooth as glass, and the bright
big moon made it almost as bright as day. A
row of steep rocks stood out into the sea, and on
to these Lamorna would go, because she wanted
to bend over and see herself in her scarlet hand-
kerchief in the moonlight. So they sat down on
the edge of the rocks, and Lamorna leaned down
till she could see all her figure and her pretty
face in the deep clear water. And, when they
saw her appearing, the elves who watched gave
notice to all the others, who stood waiting in a
crowd with their ropes in their hands.

" Look at the moon, dear Lamorna," said Erick.
" See how beautiful it is ! "

" Yes, it is lovely," said she. But she did not
lift her eyes from her own image. Then, at a
given signal, the water elves threw up their sand
ropes, and caught her reflection, and all pulled
it together, and Lamorna started back with a
shudder.

" Erick," she cried, gasping, " is anything the
matter with the moon ? Is it gone behind a cloud ?"

12 The Story of V

" No," said Erick, surprii
bright as ever."

Lamorna bent over the
drew back trembling, for h
quite disappeared, and she

" Erick," she cried, " I
you help me to go home ?

Erick jumped up at 01
derly across the rocks, ai
beach to her house.

Meantime the water e
with delight. They were
that they were helping Eri
pleased for themselves, th
pretty new plaything as Ls
was thirty times as big as
had t6 keep it tied down, L
surface and float away. !
grotto for it — between som
they fastened it down — ar
look at it, though no one
it should be injured. It lc
the bright red kerchief o
lips smiling sweetly just as
when she bent over the wa

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The Story of Vain Lamorna. 13

" Now we know how she did her hair, and can
do ours like it," said the young maiden elves ; and
they were never tired of examining it. At last
one said, —

" It is so pretty, and poor Lamorna can never
see it now. Shall we never set it free, and let it
return to her ? "

" On the day that she no longer cares about it,
when she has ceased to be vain," said the old elf
gravely, " we will cut its ropes, and it will fly to
her wherever she is."

" But she may have grown old by then, and
have changed so much that it would not know
her," said the young elf.

" Then it will change too," said the old elf; " if
even a wrinkle comes on Lamornas face it will at
once appear on the face of her image here, and
should her hair become grey its hair would be grey-
also. "

" Then it will be very amusing," cried the elves ;
"we can watch it and know how Lamorna is
going on, and if she looks well or ill."

When Lamorna got home she felt frightened
and uncomfortable, and she was cross with Erick
for looking at her.

14 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

%

" Erick," she said, " don't you know that it's
very rude to stare ? "

" Dear Lamorna, I feared you were ill," said
Erick, humbly.

" I am not ill," said Lamorna, pouting ; " so do
look another way."

" I shall never be able to please you, Lamorna,"
said Erick, sighing, as he looked away. " Are
you determined always to be unkind to me ? "

" Oh, don't talk so, Erick," cried Lamorna.
" How you tease me ! "

" Do I tease you ? " said Erick, very gravely. " I
won't do so any more ; " and he got up and kissed
her forehead, and went away without saying
another word.

When Lamorna was left alone, she jumped up
and ran to the looking-glass, in her usual way ;
but when she looked in it she stood still, staring
in surprise, for she saw nothing !

"There must be something wrong with the
light," she said, and she moved the candles ;
but when she turned again to the glass it
was just the same. She saw the reflection of
the room — only her own image was wanting.

" I declare it makes one feel quite uncom-

The Story of Vain Lamorna. 15

fortable," she said. " I must be ill. Til go to bed
at once ; to-morrow, doubtless, I shall wake up
quite well." So she went to bed.

Next morning she sprang up when the first rays
of the sun shone in at the window, and ran at once
to her looking-glass. But it was just the same as
the previous evening. No likeness of herself
could she see. At last she began to cry outright.

" I never heard of such an absurd thing ! " she
sobbed. " Not to be able to see one's own face
in the glass. Either I must be very ill, or else
something must be wrong with the glasses. And
I dare not tell any one, for fear they should laugh
or think I'm going mad. But I think 111 go
down and tell Erick about it. He won't laugh at
me, at any rate."

So she dressed as quickly as she could ; but
when she had to do her hair without seeing it she
cried again till her eyes were red. She would not
look in a glass all day, but when the evening
came she went down the village to the cottage
where Erick lived. She tapped at the door, and
it was opened by Ericks mother, who stood be-
hind it with a pale face and red eyes.

" Can I speak to Erick ? " asked Lamorna.

1 6 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

" You cannot speak to him, for he is not here/'
said his mother, coldly. " And it is all your
doing. He was so grieved by the unkind things
you said to him last night that he could not bear
to stay here any longer, so he is gone to enlist for
a soldier, and go to the war ; " and his mother
began to cry afresh. Lamorna stared in sur-
prise.

" Why, how could it be my doing ? " she said.
"If Erick was so silly as to mind what I said, I
can't help that," and she turned away in a huff.
" But he needn't have gone away just now," she
added, beginning to whimper, "for I wanted to
speak to him."

" Then you should not have been so cruel to
him," said his mother ; and she looked closely at
Lamorna, to see if she showed signs of repent-
ance.

" Why are you looking at me ? " cried Lamorna.
" Have I done my hair badly, or do I look
amiss ? " for she felt frightened as she could
not see herself, lest her looks might have
changed.

"You are a vain, heartless girl, Lamorna," cried
the woman, angrily. " I only looked at you to

The Story of Vain Lamorna. "17

see if you were sorry that Erick had gone, and you
are thinking all the time of your own looks,
forsooth ! " and she slammed the door in her
face.

Lamorna turned back and went home. She
tried to laugh when she told her father that Erick
had gone to the war ; but in reality she felt far
more inclined to cry.

" I should not have minded telling Erick," she
thought, " but I should not dare to say anything
to any one else, lest they should think me mad."

As the time passed away, and she had new
dresses and could not see herself in them, she
cried afresh.

" I don't know what I shall do," she sobbed, as
she stood in front of a looking-glass in a fine new
dress that she had never worn before, and yet
could not see herself in it. " I believe I shall
go out of my mind. And I daresay I am grow-
ing frightfully ugly without knowing it." And
she began to fret, and lie awake at night, and
grow quite pale and thin.

" What is the matter with you, Lamorna ? " said
one of the neighbours. " YouVe growing quite
thin. You mustn't get to look like that at your

c

1 8 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

age, or you'll lose all your good looks ; " and
Lamorna shivered with fear as she listened. And
again, another woman said to her, " Lamorna,
you've not done your hair well to-day. You must
not grow untidy, or you'll never look pretty ;" and
Lamorna, who knew that her hair was not so well
done because she could not see it, ran away to
hide her tears.

So a year passed, and nothing had been heard
of Erick.

Lamorna had plenty of other lovers, but as she
grew cross and bad-tempered, and her enticing
looks began to leave her, her lovers left her too.

Every year there was a great fair held in the
village, to which Lamorna had always gone,
dressed in her best, and looking her prettiest ; so
when the time came round for the fair again, she
determined to go, and to dress herself as smartly
as possible, that no one might say she was less
pretty than formerly. So she chose the prettiest
dress she could find, and trimmed it with cherry-
coloured ribbons, and then she took out her
hat, and looked at it, and thought it was too
plain.

" If I could get a new feather for it," she said,

The Story of Vain Lamorna. 19

" or some flowers, it would be much better. 1 11
go out and see what I can find."

She went to the village and looked at all the
shop windows, and saw nothing that would suit
her ; so then she turned into the fields, thinking
she would pick some flowers to make a wreath
instead.

She looked in all the banks and hedges, but all
the flowers she saw she thought too plain, and
she threw them away as soon as she had gathered
them.

tc If I can't find anything prettier than these,"
she said, " I will not go to the fair at all," and she
began to be cross.

At last she came to a large old tree, and on
one of its lowest boughs was seated the loveliest
bird she had ever seen in her life. Its body was
bright blue, but its wings were striped gold and
green, and it shone as if it had been set with
jewels.

" Oh, what a beauty ! " thought Lamorna ; " if I
could but get some of its feathers for my hat,
how happy I should be ! " and she looked at the
bird longingly. Presently she took up a large
stone, and going softly under the tree, threw it up

c 2

20 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

at the bird, but the stone fell on the other side
and missed the bird, who sat quite still and did
not stir.

" You silly creature ! " said Lamorna, " if you
sit so still, I shall easily be able to catch you."
So she ran to the back of the tree and climbed
up it on to the lowest bough, and bending across
tried to seize the bird. But the bird fluttered in
her grasp, and she lost her balance and fell from
the bough on her face. Underneath the tree was
a little heap of sharp stones, on to which Lamorna
fell, and her face was cut right across, and 'the
blood gushed out. At first she lost her senses
with the fall, but she soon recovered herself and
started up and ran home crying. Of course she
could not see the cut, but she felt the blood
flowing down, and she washed and bandaged it
as best she could. But when her father came in
he stared at her in surprise.

" Why, girl," he cried, " what have you done to
yourself ? "

" I have fallen down and cut my face," said
Lamorna shortly.

" Cut your face — that you have, and a bad cut
too. But what made you put on the plaster like

The Story of Vain Lamoma. 21

that — half on and half off? I'll go out and ask
some of the women to come in and do it for you,
if you can't manage it better than that for your-
self."

So Lamornas face was bandaged, and of course
she could not go to the fair. All thought it a
very bad cut, and that it would most likely leave
a scar for life. She had to lie in bed for many
days, and she felt very sick and ill. But while
she was thus lying alone she thought of a great
many things which had never entered her head
before ; and most of all of Erick. She remem-
bered how she had repaid his love with scorn,
and she thought of how vain she had been of her
beauty ; and now it would all be gone, if ever he
saw her again.

" And if it had not been for my vanity," she
sighed to herself, " I need not have been hurt at
all. It was only that which made me want the
bird's wing. Ah, what a little thing beauty is to
be so vain of ! "

When her face was healed she strolled to
the waters edge, and stood looking down at it.
All the neighbours had been very kind to her
during her illness, and no one said anything to

22 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

her about the mark on her face, but she knew
well that her beauty was gone for ever.

"If Erick would only come back," she said as
she stood looking at the water, " I should not
now be always thinking about my looks, as he
talked to me ; I would think of him instead."

When the water elves heard her words, they
flew to the wise old elf, and said, —

" See how hardly she has been punished. She
is quite cured of her vanity. Let us cut the
ropes of sand, and let her image free."

But the old elf shook his head, and said, —

" Not just yet. Wait a little longer."

As Lamorna stood gazing over the water, she
did not know that some one came up behind her,
but she heard her name called, and looking round
she saw a soldier with only one arm standing by
her. He was so altered and brown that she
looked at him for some time before she saw that
it was Erick. Then she gave a little cry, and
holding out her hands called him by his name.

" Did you really know me again, dear Lamorna ?"
he said, coming up to her. " I thought you would
quite have forgotten me by now. And see how
changed I am — I have only one arm."

The Story of Vain Lamorna. 23

Then Lamorna turned her face, and showed
him the scar. " I am more changed than you,
Erick," she said; "see here." But she thought,
" Now he will cease to love me, when he sees
how ugly I am grown/' and she felt inclined to
cry.

But Erick said nothing about her face. Only
he asked her if she were glad he was come back.

" I am very, very glad," she said. " Ah, how I
missed you after you were gone ! "

"Is that really true, Lamorna ? " said Erick.
" And all the time I was away I thought of no
one but you ; and now I should not dare to ask
you to be the wife of a poor broken-down fellow
like me."

" But if you will have me, Erick," said
Lamorna, " I will be your wife and love you
dearly ; " and they kissed each other, and settled
that they would be married as soon as they could.
And then they went home to tell Erick's mother,
and were as happy as they could be.

So they were married, and on the evening
afterwards Lamorna asked Erick to go down
with her to the rocks on which they had sat the
evening before he went away. It was a beautiful

24 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

moonlight night, and the sea was smooth as
glass.

" It was on just such a night as this that we
last sat here," said Erick ; " but how different you
were then ! Do you remember how unkind you
were to me that night ? "

" Yes, Erick, indeed I do," said she. " But
my looks were different then as well. I don't
mind about them for myself, but I wish I
had not lost my pretty face, as you used to
admire it."

When the water elves heard these words, the
old elf said, —

" Now is the time ! " and they all hastened
to the reflection and cut the sand ropes, and
with a mighty crash it rose straight through the
water to the surface, exactly beneath Lamornas
gaze.

" Erick ! " she cried with a start, " what's
the matter ? Has anything happened to the
moon ? "

" No, dear Lamorna, it is all right. Are you
ill ? " asked Erick anxiously.

" I think I must have been ill for the last
year, and now I am quite well again," said

The Story of Vain Lamorna. 25

Lamorna, as she looked at her own face in the
water.

" How much my cheek is marked ! But I don't
mind it if you don't, dear Erick ; " and Erick kissed
the scar, and told her he loved her all the better
for it

The water elves made a great festival when
they heard this, and danced till morning.

" Anyhow, that is one good thing we have done
in the past year," they said. " We have cured
Vain Lamorna."

" Ah, a terrible thing is vanity ! " said the Shawl-
pin solemnly. " I have suffered from it myself. I

26 The Story of Vain Lamorna.

make a point of pricking any one who I think is
getting too vain."

"It rather depends on what one has to be vain
of," said the Brooch. " Of course some people
are vain of almost nothing."

" I like your story," said the Pin, " but I
cannot say that I consider it natural."

"It is true, nevertheless," said the Brooch.
" Now some one else must tell one. Perhaps
the Shawl-pin will oblige us."

The Shawl-pin hesitated for some time, and
then said he would try and remember a story
which was told to him many years back by an
Indian Scarf into which he was often stuck.

THE SEEDS OF LOVE.

(ANY years ago, in a country
far over the sea, was a little
village standing by a great
river ; and over the river was
a bridge, with gates which
were opened and shut when carriages and horses
went through. A little white cottage stood close
beside the bridge, and in it lived an old woman
and her two granddaughters, whose business it
was to open and shut the heavy iron gates. The
woman was very old, and her two granddaughters
were the children of her two sons, who were both
dead ; so the young girls were cousins. They were
just the same age, but not the least alike. They
were named Zaire and Blanchelys. Blanchelys

28 The Seeds of Love.

had gold-coloured hair, and eyes like blue corn-
flowers, and she laughed and sang from morn-
ing till night. Zaire's hair was black as a raven's
wing, and her eyes were like large sloes. She was
called the prettiest girl in all the village, but no one
loved her as they did the blue-eyed Blanchelys.

The old grandmother did nothing but sit by
the fire and knit ; so one or other of the girls was
always out attending to the gates and receiving
the tolls of the passers-by. Zaire grumbled at the
work, but Blanchelys did it cheerfully, and always
said a pleasant word to each of the villagers as
they came over the bridge.

One winter the old grandmother was feebler
than ever, and on Christmas Eve she called the
two girls to her bedside and said, —

" My dear children, I feel that my end is now fast
approaching, but before I die I have something
to say to you both. I trust you will always be
good girls, and then you are sure to be happy. I
have little to leave you except my blessing, but
there is something more I have for each of you.
That is these two little candles ; they are magic
candles, and when you set them alight there will
appear to you a fairy who will grant you the wish

The Seeds of Love. 29

of your heart. If it is a good wish it will be a
good fairy that appears, but if it is a wicked wish
it will be a wicked fairy that comes ; so I advise
you to beware, for bad fairies help none. You
must burn your candles alone on a night when
there is neither moon nor star, and you can only
have one wish, for when that is granted the candle
will burn out ; but if you will take my advice you
will never light them at all. Many, many years
ago they were brought over the sea, from a
strange land where animals spoke and men and
women flew, by a sailor who gave them to my
grandmother, who gave them to my mother, who
gave them to me. So I have had them all my
life, but no one has ever used them, for we all
thought that if people live honestly and do their
duty, they are sure to be happy without the help
of any fairy folk."

So saying the good woman drew from under
her pillow two tiny candles, and gave one to
each of the two girls, who stood by her bedside.
They took them in great surprise, and Blanchelys
stooped down and kissed her, and as she did so
the old woman died.

Blanchelys grieved and wept much, for she had

30 The Seeds of Love.

loved her well, but Zaire was so busy thinking of
her magic candle that she did not grieve for her
grandmother's death, but sat brooding over what
great thing she should wish for when she lit it.

" I will keep it till I know of something I long
for very much indeed," she said to herself. So she
put the candle safely away ; and Blanchelys put
hers away also, meaning to take her grand-
mothers advice, and never to light it. So the
two girls lived in the same little cottage, going
out as before to open the gates for the passers-by.

On the other side of the river was a grand
castle which belonged to the King. Long ago he
used to stay there to hunt, but now he was grown
too old, and the castle was never used. One day
the girls heard that the King's son was coming,
and all the village was to be decorated in his
honour. The first day he rode through it on
his way to the hunt, Zaire and Blanchelys knew
that he would cross the bridge ; so they both
dressed themselves in their very best to come out
and open the gates ; but Zaire said to Blanchelys,
" You stand back, and let me go first, for, as
people say I am the prettiest girl in the village,
it is right I should be seen." So Blanchelys

The Seeds of Love. 31

stood behind and looked over her cousin's
shoulder.

She saw the party of riders coming across the
bridge, and they were all splendidly dressed in
coloured velvets and gold, and in the middle,
riding on a snow-white horse, was the Kings son,
clad in a suit of burnished gold, that sparkled and
shone in the sunlight. His hair, which was darker
and redder than his golden dress, hung over his
shoulders and stood out around his head like fine
wires. On his head was a velvet cap, from which
hung a long white feather fastened down by a
diamond clasp ; and as he smiled and talked to
those around him, Blanchelys thought she never
had seen any one so beautiful in her life. In front
of the party rode trumpeters, blowing on their
trumpets, to clear the way, and behind were ser-
vants and pages leading hounds and bearing hawks.

But none of the party noticed the two girls
who stood at the cottage door, and the horses' feet
raised a cloud of dust, which flew into Zaire's face,
and she fell into a passion. "If that is all one
gets, forsooth, for opening the gate for the King's
son," she cried, " I will never do it again." But
Blanchelys stood at the door and watched the

32 The Seeds of Love.

party of horsemen till they were quite out of
sight, and then she sighed. " I would stand at
the gate all day if he would only ride by once,"
she said, and her cousin laughed at her scornfully.
But when the royal party rode back, Blanchelys
opened the gate, and stood and gazed at the
King's son as before, and when she returned into
the cottage she wept silently, and when she slept
at night she dreamed of the Kings son. Every
day he came across the bridge on his snow-white
horse as he rode to the hunt, and every day
Blanchelys came out and opened the gates and
gazed on his face ; but he never noticed her,
and she sighed as she turned again to the cottage.
So the days passed, and Blanchelys grew thin
and pale. Zaire laughed at her, and asked what
ailed her. "If you lose all your good looks like
that," she said, " you will never get a husband."

" I want no husband whom I shall ever wed,"
said Blanchelys sadly ; and at that Zaire laughed
the more.

One night when Zaire was sleeping soundly
Blanchelys, who had lain awake all night, rose
out of her little bed, and stepping softly to the
window, looked out at the night. There were

The Seeds of Love. 33

neither moon nor stars, and the night was very
dark.

" I must be quick," said Blanchelys, " for soon
the sun will rise."

So she dressed herself quickly, but she left her
hair hanging down her back, and trod noiselessly
to the cupboard, and softly opened the door.
She took out the candle, and hid it in her """ ■->
bosom. Then she crept from the room, down
the passage, and into the little garden. In the
middle of the garden stood a great yew-tree,
whose branches almost touched the ground. It
looked like a great black giant in the night, and
Blanchelys trembled as she looked at it ; but she
summoned her courage, and going up to the tree
crept under its branches, and knelt down, leaning
against the trunk. It was black, black night, but
not a breeze was blowing, and it was as hot as if
the sun was shining. Blanchelys stuck her candle
firmly in the ground, and then lit it. Directly it
began to burn, there came a little rustling sound
through the trees like the flapping of doves'
wings, and then in front of where Blanchelys
knelt, in the light of the candle she saw a boy,
who was not like any one she had ever seen

D

34 The Seeds of Love.

before, so beautiful was he. He had curly golden
hair, which spread round his head like a halo, and

he wore on his hair a wreath of pink roses, and
he carried a branch of roses in his hand. His
robe was white, but it did not hide his bare feet,

The Seeds of Love. 35

on which were golden sandals ; and a golden
girdle was round his waist. From his shoulders
grew soft pink wings, and his face was as beauti-
ful as an angel's.

" I am Love. What do you want with me ? "
said the boy ; and at the sound of his voice all the
wood-doves in the neighbouring trees awoke and
began to coo. But Blanchelys trembled and
looked at him in silence ; and he spoke again, —

" Speak quickly — tell me what is your heart's
wish, for soon your candle will have burnt out,
and then I shall vanish." Then Blanchelys sum-
moned all her courage, and clasping her hands,
said in a low, trembling voice, —

" Give me the love of the Kings son."

Love looked at her for a moment, and he
smiled and laughed low to himself ; then he gently
shook the branch of roses he carried, and into his
hand from the heart of the roses fell some tiny
seeds.

" Take them," he said, holding them out to
Blanchelys, " and plant them in the earth just as
the sun is rising; but ere you cover them up
breathe over them the name of him whose love
you desire. From them will spring a rose-tree,

d 2

36 The Seeds of Love.

and as it grows so his love for you will grow.
While that tree lives he will love you more than
all the world, but should it pine and die his love
for you would wane and die also, and then only
one thing in the world would make it live again.
And beware of one thing, that is the prick of the
thorns which grow upon the tree ; for should one
pierce your skin, and draw the blood, be it never
so little, the wound will never heal, even if it
do not kill you. Farewell, and see that you
guard well your tree."

" Stay for one moment," entreated Blanchelys.
" Tell me how and where I should seek you if I
want to find you."

" I am to be found in many places," answered
Love. " But I am often where you would never
seek me, and seldom where you would look for
me. Farewell ! " And again there was a soft
whirring of wings, and in a moment Love had
disappeared, and the light from the candle died
out, and Blanchelys was left alone under the tree
in the dark night. The wood-doves stopped
cooing, and all was still again. Then she rose
from her knees, and turned into the house. She
could not see the seeds in the darkness, but she

The Seeds of Love. 37

grasped them firmly in one hand as she crept
again into her little bed. Zaire moved in her
sleep, but she did not wake.

As the first rays of the sun began to shine,
Blanchelys arose again, and examined her seeds.
They were more like jewels than seeds, for they
were bright clear red, like rubies, and each one
was in the form of a heart. Blanchelys kissed
them, and then she sought about for a spot in
which to sow them. At last she took a flower-
pot and filled it with earth, and in it laid the
seeds, and breathed over them the name of the
Kings son, and covered them over with earth.
Then she put the flower-pot in the window of
her room. " Now I can watch it both night and
day," she said, " and see that no harm comes
to it."

That morning, when the Kings son rode past
to the hunt, he stopped at the cottage door, and
asked Blanchelys to give him a glass of water.
It was the first time he had ever spoken to her,
and her heart beat high with joy. At night, when
she went to look at her flower-pot, she found that
a tiny shoot was appearing above the earth in the
pot.

38 The Seeds of Love.

Next day as the Prince rode past he stopped
again at the cottage, and every day he stopped
and spoke with Blanchelys, and every day stayed
with her a longer time ; and the plant in the pot
grew larger and larger, till at last Blanchelys saw
that it was a rose-tree, and that it was covered
with tiny buds.

One evening, when the Prince came back from
hunting, he came into the cottage with Blanchelys,
and asked her if she would be his wife, and told
her that when he was King she should be Queen,

Blanchelys wept for joy ; and when she went
to look at her flower she found that one of the
buds had burst into a splendid white rose, which
scented the whole room.

So Blanchelys married the King's son, and there
were great rejoicings at the wedding all over
the country, and illuminations everywhere ; and
Blanchelys had fine ladies to wait on her, and
beautiful jewels given to her, and fine dresses
made for her ; but what she valued more than all
was her pot with the rose-tree in it, which grew
more and more beautiful every day, for fresh roses
bloomed.

But Zaire was bitterly jealous of Blanchelys,

The Seeds of Love. 39

because she was going to be Queen, though
Blanchelys was very kind to her and gave her
beautiful things, and took her to live with her at
the palace. Still Zaire hated her, and thought
night and day of how she could do her any harm,
and as she saw how happy Blanchelys was, and
how much her husband loved her, she hated her all
the more. So the time passed on. Blanchelys'
rose had grown into a big tree, and she had
planted it in the palace garden, just beneath her
bedroom window, so that it might be the first
thing she saw when she woke in the morning.
All her ladies knew that Princess Blanchelys'
favourite spot in the palace garden was close to the
beautiful rose-tree, where she would sit for hours
gazing up at its flowers and smelling them. She
never allowed any one to gather them, and she
always watered it herself. Her first care in the
morning was to examine her rose-tree, whilst she
brushed from it all insects, and cut off the dead
leaves. . And sometimes, when no one was there
to see, she would press her lips to the roses ; but
Zaire watched her secretly, and longed to know
why Blanchelys loved the tree so much.

After a time, Blanchelys had a little son, who

40 The Seeds of Love.

was heir to the crown, and she was even happier
than before, and her husband loved her better.
The bells were rung at the birth of the prince,
and all the people rejoiced. And the rose-tree
grew so fast, that when Blanchelys came out into
the garden, with her baby in her arms, it was
quite a big tree, and she was able to stand under
the shade of its branches.

"You are a very happy woman, cousin
Blanchelys, ,, said Zaire, coming up to her from
behind, as she stood under the tree.

"Yes, indeed, I am happy," said Blanchelys, look-
ing at the baby in her arms. " And I hope, dear
cousin Zaire, that you will be as happy as I am."

" That is impossible," said Zaire, " for one day
you will be Queen, and I never shall."

" I am not so happy because I am going to be
Queen," said Blanchelys, "but because I love
my husband and baby so dearly."

" And, next to them, what do you love best ? "
asked Zaire.

" Next to them, I love my rose-tree," said
Blanchelys ; and she laughed, and wound her
arms round the tree-trunk.

" Then if that tree were to die, would you be

The Seeds of Love. 4 1

very unhappy, cousin Blanchelys ?" asked Zaire,
and her eyes glittered eagerly.

" Yes, if my tree were to die, I think it would
break my heart," said Blanchelys, and she turned
quite pale at the thought.

But from that day Zaire thought of nothing
but how she could kill the rose-tree that her
cousin loved so much. First she pulled off its
leaves, and cut its branches, but fresh leaves grew
in the old ones' places, and the maimed branches
budded and sprouted anew. Then she took a
sharp knife, and pierced it through the trunk, and
peeled off the bark, so that it bled. But the
gash soon healed up, and the bark grew again, so
that the tree was finer than before. Zaire might
do what she could, but the tree grew and grew,
and she could not hurt it.

Soon after the baby prince was born the old
King fell ill and died, so Blanchelys and
her husband were to be crowned King and
Queen. Again the country was illuminated for
the coronation, and Blanchelys and her husband
sat on two golden thrones while the crowns were
placed on their heads, and the baby lay in a
golden cradle at their feet.

42 The Seeds of Love.

Queen Blanchelys was dressed in white satin
and gold, with some of her dear roses in her
dress, and she smiled and wept for joy ; and all
the crowd cheered and shouted. But when
Zaire saw Blanchelys seated on her golden throne,
her hatred and envy knew no bounds, and she
wept with rage ; for she saw that Blanchelys was
better and fairer than she, though she too wore a
grand satin dress, and had jewels in her hair.

At night a great ball was given in the palace ;
but Zaire would not dance, and stood in a corner
watching Blanchelys, her lips trembling with rage.
At last she started up with a thought in her mind,
and ran into the palace garden, in the dark night.
In one hand she held tightly grasped the little
wax candle her grandmother had given her long
before. The night was dark and cold, there were
neither moon nor stars, and a shrill wind whistled,
and Zaire shivered and trembled in her yellow
satin dress. The rain began to fall, but she lifted
her skirts and picked her way among the puddles
in her thin shining shoes till she came to where
stood Blanchelys 1 rose-tree.

Here she stopped, and taking the candle,
planted it firmly in the ground and lit it. The

The Seeds of Love. 43

wind blew and the rain fell, but the candle burnt
on steadily. All at once there was the sound of
a hiss like a serpents hiss, and in front of Zaire was
the ugly figure of a grizzly hag clothed in black.
Round her head she wore a crown of twisted
living snakes, who moved their heads and spit
venom on all sides. In her hand, which was
more like a claw than a hand, she carried a staff,
round which twined a snake who had seven
heads, the first a serpents, the second a monkey's,
the third a toads, the fourth a vulture's, the fifth
a tigers, and the sixth and seventh a man's and a
woman's ; and all the heads hissed and chattered
and spit and shrieked with anger. About her
feet crawled frogs and toads and loathsome
reptiles of all sorts, but most hideous of all was
her face, for it- was so seamed and wrinkled
with rage and anger that it looked more like a
fiend's than a woman's.

" What do you want with me ? " she hissed in
a voice that made Zaire tremble. " Speak — what
is your wish ? "

Then Zaire pointed to the rose-tree, and said,
" Tell me how to kill that tree."

The hag chuckled, and drew from her bosom a

44 The Seeds of Love.

small viper, which she held out to Zaire, who
trembled still more, but took it in her hand and
held it, though it was as cold as stone and very
slimy.

" Take that," croaked the witch, " and dig to
the roots of the rose-tree. Lay it among them
and it will twist around them, and as it tightens
its hold so shall the tree die."

" Who are you, and what is your name ? "
gasped Zaire.

" I am Envy," answered the hag ; and then again
Zaire heard a long low hiss, and the old woman had
disappeared and left her alone still holding the cold
slimy viper. At once she returned to the palace,
and took it to a light when no one was watching
her. It was bright green, and glittered as it
moved. Its eyes were flaming scarlet, and from
its mouth came a long forked tongue, and it
hissed spitefully, but it did not attempt to hurt
Zaire, and she kissed and caressed it, then hiding
it in her bosom went back to dance at the ball.

Next morning, as was her wont, Queen
Blanchelys came down with the baby in her
arms to her rose-tree, and Zaire stepped out from
behind the tree and watched her as before.

The Seeds of Love. 45

"Ah, my sweet tree, each day you .are more
beautiful, and I am happier," said Queen
Blanchelys, and she put her white arms round
the tree-trunk and laid her cheek against it and
caressed it as before.

" Your pet seems well, cousin Blanchelys," said
Zaire, coming to where she stood.

" What ! are you there, cousin Zaire ? " said
Blanchelys, drawing back from the tree.

" And see, I have also a new pet," said Zaire ;
and she drew from her bosom the cold long
snake, and let it twist about her arms and throat.

" What hideous creature have you there, cousin
Zaire ? " cried Blanchelys, trembling and hiding
her eyes from the snake.

" You have a pet, why should I not have one
also ? " said Zaire, as she kissed the snake's
glittering green head.

" But you will surely not make a pet of that
dreadful snake ?" said Blanchelys. " Dear cousin
Zaire, throw it away, and I will give you a beauti-
ful pet — a dove, or a gazelle, or a rose-tree like
mine."

" I would not change my snake for anything in
all the wide world," said Zaire ; and her eyes

% 46 The Seeds of Love.

glittered # almost like the snake's own, as she
turned away still fondling it ; but Queen Blanche-
lys shuddered, and felt very sad, though she
knew not why.

Zaire waited till night, and then she took a
spade and went into the garden to dig at the
roots of the rose-tree. It was quite dark, and no
one could see her. She dug and dug till she
came to the long deep roots that went far into
the earth, and then she stood on the ground
beside the hole and took the snake from her
bosom and kissed it.

" Pretty snake," she said softly, " tighten about
the roots of the tree, and kill it as quickly as you
can, that it may die and cousin Blanchelys may

mourn."

Then she took the snake in her little white
hand and placed it among the tree's roots. For
a moment it lay quite still, then it began to coil
itself slowly about them, and to twist itself round
and round them.

Zaire laughed as she watched it. " Good-bye,
sweet snake," she said ; " do your work well." Then
she filled up the hole with earth and smoothed
the top so that no one should see.

The Seeds of Love.

47

Next day when Queen Blanchelys came to
look at her tree she found it drooping, so she
called to the gar-
deners to give it
water, but not all
the water in the
world could refresh
it, and each day
it drooped more
and more, and the
flowers began to
die and fall away.
Poor Queen Blan-
chelys watched it
with tears in her
eyes. She sent for
gardeners from far
and near, but they
could do nothingfor
it, and the Queen
was sick at heart,
and grew pale and
thin, for she knew
that her husband
was beginning to love her less and less.

48 The Seeds of Love.

Every day he rode out hunting with Zaire,
and at all the Court balls he danced with no one
else. Queen Blanchelys mourned in silence till
the last leaf fell from her tree.

" Now I will stay here no longer," she said,
" since my tree is dead and my husband no
longer loves me. I will go and find Love, and ask
him to help me." So she rose in the night, and
wrapped herself in a large cloak, and said good-
bye to her baby, and started alone.

She wandered and wandered and wandered till
she came to the village where she was born, and
to the little house by the bridge where she had
lived.

She went into the garden where the yew-tree
stood, and where she had seen Love before, but
no Love was there now, and when she asked
the neighbours if he had passed that way they
stared at her and thought her mad. So she went
on and on, night and day, till her feet were sore
and her face burnt with the sun. She was so
weary that she could scarcely walk, but still she
pressed on, looking everywhere for Love, but
seeing him nowhere. At last she came to a
church in which a grand wedding was taking

The Seeds of Love. 49

place. " Here shall I surely find him," she said,
and she quickened her steps, and went into the
church and sat down among the people. She
waited till the wedding was over, and then watched
the bridal procession coming out to see if Love
was amongst thera. The bride was grandly
dressed, and there were many smart carriages
and finely dressed people, but nowhere amongst
them did she see the figure of Love, and she
turned from the church with a heavy heart. As
she went along the road, she came to a large tree
under which sat a couple of lovers courting. " Ah,
here will Love surely be," she said, and she drew
near the tree, and stood silently watching the
young people as they whispered and laughed
together ; but Love was not there, and Queen
Blanchelys sought him in vain. Then she went
on again till she came to a green, on which were
playing a number of children.

" Now among these little ones shall I find
him," she said, and she waited and looked on at
their games, but still she saw no trace of Love.
So she went on and on and on, till she was so
weary that she could toil no farther, and stopped
on a desolate barren plain on which stood a few

E

50 The Seeds of Love.

miserable cottages, and near them an old church
and churchyard. Close by, the sea roared loud,
and wild sea-birds flew all about. Queen
Blanchelys dropped exhausted on a little mound
in front of a cottage door, and overheard two
women who were talking together as they sat
spinning.

" He made her work for him day and night,"
said one, " and never gave her a kind word."

"He beat and kicked her," said the other ;
" its very well for her that he is dead."

" They are beginning to toll the bell for the
funeral now," said the first, " but there'll be very
few mourners there, I expect. He was the
wickedest man for miles round."

Then Queen Blanchelys looked across to the
church, and heard the bell tolling, and saw a small
dark procession winding towards the churchyard.

She raised herself from the ground and turned
towards the churchyard.

" Poor woman ! she is unhappy ; so am I,"
she said with tears in her eyes.

The priest was already reading the service
beside the grave when she reached it. Only one
woman stood beside it, but when she looked at

The Seeds of Love. 51

her, Queen Blanchelys' heart beat high, for close
by her was Love dressed as a mourner. She
waited till the service was over, and the woman
and the priest had turned away, and then she
sprang forward and caught Love by the cloak,
and sank at his feet.

" Help me, sweet Love ! " she cried, and then
began to weep.

" Poor Queen Blanchelys ! " said Love, " your
rose-tree is dead, then." His face looked sad,
and his cheeks were pale and thin.

" My tree is dead," sobbed Queen Blanchelys,
" and the King loves me no more. Ah, tell me
who has killed my tree ? "

" Your cousin Zaire has killed it," said Love.
"She asked Envy to help her, and Envy has
given her a viper, which she laid at the trees
roots, and it has spat its deadly venom on to the
red heart which is in the centre of the trunk and
killed it."

" Tell me, then, how to make it live again,"
gasped the Queen.

" There is only one thing in the world that can
do that ! " said Love.

" And what is that ? " asked the Queen.

e 2

52 The Seeds of Love.

" The blood from your own heart," said Love.
" You must pierce your heart with a thorn from
the tree, and let it flow to the tree's roots. Then,
when it touches the snake it will shrivel and die,
and the tree will bloom out afresh."

When Queen Blanchelys heard this she turned
very pale, but she rose and left the churchyard,
and turned homeward. She walked for many
days, for it was far to the palace, and as she
drew near to it she saw that it was all decorated
with flags as if for some great rejoicing. So she
stopped and asked a countrywoman what it was
for.

" You must indeed be a stranger, that you do
not know that," answered the good woman. " To-
morrow the King marries the Princess Zaire, the
late Queen's cousin. Queen Blanchelys has now
been dead many years, so to-morrow the marriage
will take place, and all the decorations are in
honour of the wedding."

Then Queen Blanchelys asked the woman if
the late Queen had not left a little son, and where
it now was.

" It is always with the King, and he is so fond
of it, that people say Princess Zaire is jealous of

The Seeds of Love. 53

it, and would send it away if she dared," said the
woman.

Queen Blanchelys thanked her and then sat
down by the roadside, and waited till night came
and every one was asleep in bed. Then she rose
and stole quietly into the palace, when no one
heard her, and first she took a piece of paper, and
on it she wrote how she had gone away because
the King did not love her, and how Love had
told her that Zaire had killed her rose-tree from
jealousy, and had stolen the King's love, and she
prayed that the King would be good to her little
son when she was dead, and that she might be
buried under her rose-tree. Then she went up-
stairs, and first she went to the bedside of her
cousin Zaire. " Ah, cruel cousin Zaire," she said,
" I have never hurt you. Why did you hate me
so ? But you shall never be Queen, in my place,
though you are dreaming it now."

Then she went to the bedside of her little son,
and she kissed him and fondled him, but she did
not wake him.

" Ah, little son," she said, " if I had not come
home to-night, to-morrow you would have had a
cruel step-mother in my place, but now you will

54 The Seeds of Love.

never have any step-mother, and your father will
always love you well."

Then last of all she went to the bedside of her
husband the King, and laid her letter on the
pillow, close by his head.

" Alas ! dear husband," she said, " to-night I am
looking at you, and you do not see me, but to-
morrow morning you will be looking at me, when
I shall not see you."

Then she kissed him softly thrice, and bid him
adieu, and went out of the palace to her dear
rose-tree in the garden. It was nothing now but
a bare black stump. So Queen Blanchelys lay
down on the ground, and put her arms round the
trunk, and from the dead branch she tore a long
smooth thorn, and pierced her heart with it, and
the drops of blood trickled to the roots of the tree,
and at once the serpent at the roots shrivelled and
died, and the tree again began to bud and sprout.

When the King woke in the morning the first
thing he saw was the Queen's letter, and he took
it and read it at once, and as he read his cheeks
turned pale, and he sighed bitterly, and then he
called his courtiers, and told them what had
happened, and they all went out into the garden

The Seeds of Love. 55

to the rose-tree, under which lay poor Queen
Blanchelys dead. But the tree which before
was only a piece of dead wood was covered with
green leaves and rose-buds.

The King kissed the Queen's pale face, and
ordered that there should be a grand funeral,
and that she should be buried under her rose-tree,
and from that day forth the King thought of no
one but Queen Blanchelys, and each day sat by
her grave under her rose-tree ; but Zaire was
stripped of all her fine dresses and jewels, and
had the clothes which she wore before she came
to the palace, and was banished from the land,
and had to beg her bread from door to door.

But when the rose-tree burst into bloom, the
roses, which were white before, were as red as the
blood which sprang from the Queens heart, and
which had coloured them.

" Now I call that an uncomfortable story," said
the Brooch, in rather a husky voice. " For my
part, I like stories that end up all right."

56 The Seeds of Love.

The Pin did not speak, for it was crying
quietly, and was dreadfully ashamed of its tears
being seen. Even the Bracelets had stopped
chattering, and come down to listen. The
Shawl-pin smiled. He felt his story had been
a success, so he did not mind what the Brooch
said.

" Now it is your turn," said the Brooch to the
Pin, who, after thinking a little, said he would tell
them a story once told him by an Opal Ring he
knew, when he asked how it came by its wonder-
ful colours.

THE STORY OF THE OPAL.

1 H E Sun was shining brightly one
hot summer day, and a little
Sunbeam slid down his long
golden ladder, and crept un-
perceived under the leaves of
a large tree. All the Sun-
beams are in reality tiny Sun-fairies,
run down to earth on golden
ladders, which look to mortals like
rays of the Sun. When they see a
cloud coming they climb their lad-
ders in an instant, and draw them
up after them into the Sun. The
Sun is ruled by a mighty fairy, who
every morning tells his tiny ser-
vants, the beams, where they are to shine, and
every evening counts them on their return, to see
he has the right number. It is not known, but
the Sun and Moon are enemies, and that is why

58 The Story of the Opal.

they never shine at the same time. The fairy
of the Moon is a woman, and all her beams are
tiny women, who come down on the loveliest
little ladders, like threads of silver. No one
knows why the Sun and Moon quarrelled. Once
they were very good friends. Some say it is
because the Sun wished to marry her, and she
did not like him, but preferred a sea king, for
whose sake she always keeps near the world.
Others think it is because of a piece of land
which the Moon claimed as her own, and on
which the Sun one day shone so strongly that he
dried up and killed all the plants and grass there,
which offended the Moon very much. Anyhow,
it remains that they are bitter enemies, and the
Sunbeams and Moonbeams may not play together.

On the day on which my story begins, the
Sunbeam about whom I am going to tell you
crept into a tree, and sat down near a Bullfinch's
nest, and watched the Bullfinch and its mate.

" Why should I not have a mate also ?" he said
to himself ; and then he began to feel very sad,
for the Sunbeams never mate. Yet he was the
prettiest little fellow you could imagine. His
hair was bright gold, and he sat still, leaning one

The Story of the Opal. 59

arm on his tiny ladder, and listening to the chatter
of the birds.

" But I shall try to keep awake to-night to see
her," said a young Bullfinch.

" Nonsense ! " said its mother. " You shall do
no such thing."

" But the Nightingale says she is so very
lovely," said a Wren, looking out from her little
nest in a hedge close by.

"The Nightingale!" said the old Bullfinch,
scornfully. " Every one knows that the Nightin-
gale was moonstruck long ago. Who can trust a
word he says ? "

" Nevertheless, I should like to see her," said
the Wren.

" I have seen her, and the Nightingale is right,"
said a Wood-dove in its soft, cooing tones. " I
was awake last night and saw her ; she is more
lovely than anything that ever came here be-
fore."

" Of whom are you talking ? " asked the Sun-
beam ; and he shot across to the Bullfinch's nest.
All the birds were silent when they saw him. At
last the Bullfinch said, " Only of a Moonbeam,
your Highness. No one your Highness would

6o The Story of the Opal.

care about," for the Bullfinch remembered the
quarrel between the Sun and Moon, and did not
like to say much.

" What is she like ? " asked the Sunbeam. " I
have never seen a Moonbeam."

" I have seen her, and she is as beautiful as an

angel," said the Wood-dove. " But you should
ask the Nightingale. He knows more about her
than any one, for he always comes out to sing to
her."

"Where is the Nightingale?" asked the Sun-
beam.

" He is resting now," said the Wren, "and will

The Story of the Opal. 61

not say a word. But later, as the Sun begins to
set, he will come out and tell you."

" At the time when all decent birds are going to
roost," grumbled the Bullfinch.

" I will wait till the Nightingale comes," said
the Sunbeam.

So all day long he shone about the tree. As
the Sun moved slowly down, his ladder dropped
with it lower and lower, for it was fastened to the
Sun at one end ; and if he had allowed the Sun
to disappear before he had run back and drawn
it up, the ladder would have broken against the
earth, and the poor little Sunbeam could never
have gone home again, but would have wandered
about, becoming paler and paler every minute, till
at last he died.

But some time before the Sun had gone, when
it was still shining in a glorious bed of red and
gold, the Nightingale arose, and, coming forth
from his concealment, began to sing loud and
clear.

" Oh, is it you at last ? " said the Sunbeam.
" How I have waited for you. Tell me quickly
about this Moonbeam of whom they are all
talking."

62 The Story of the Opal.

"What shall I tell you of her?" sang the
Nightingale. " She is more beautiful than the
rose. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever
seen. Her hair is silver, and the light of her
eyes is far more lovely than yours. But why
should you want to know about her ? You be-
long to the Sun, and hate Moonbeams."

" I do not hate them," said the Sunbeam sadly.
" What are they like ? Show this one to me some
night, dear Nightingale."

" I cannot show her to you now," answered the
Nightingale ; " for she will not come out till long
after the Sun has set ; but wait a few days, and
when the Moon is full she will come a little before
the Sun sets, and if you hide beneath a leaf you may
look at her. But you must promise not to shine
on her, or you might hurt her, or break her ladder.

" I will promise," said the Sunbeam, and every
day he came back to the same tree at sunset, to
talk to the Nightingale about the Moonbeam, till
the Bullfinch was quite angry.

" To-night I shall see her at last," he said to him-
self, for the Moon was almost full, and would rise
before the Sun had set. He hid in the oak-leaves,
trembling with expectation.

The Story of the Opal. 63

" She is coming ! " said the Nightingale, and the
Sunbeam peeped out from the branches, and
watched. In a minute or two a tiny silver ladder
like a thread was placed among the leaves, near
the Nightingale's nest, and down it came the
Moonbeam, and our little Sunbeam looked out
and saw her.

She did not at all look as he had expected she
would, but he agreed with the Nightingale that she
was the loveliest thing he had ever seen. She
was all silver, and pale greeny blue. Her hair
and eyes shone like stars. All the Sunbeams
looked bright, and hot, but she looked as cool as
the sea ; yet she glittered like a diamond. The
Sunbeam gazed at her in surprise, unable to say a
word, till all at once he saw that his little ladder
was bending. The Sun was sinking, and he had
only just time to scramble back, and draw his
ladder after him.

The Moonbeam only saw his light vanishing,
and did not see him.

" To whom were you talking, dear Nightin-
gale ? " she asked, putting her beautiful white arms
round his neck, and leaning her head on his
bosom.

64 The Story of the Opal.

"To a Sunbeam," answered the Nightingale.
" Ah, how beautiful he is ! I was telling him
about yfcu. He longs to see you."

" I have never seen a Sunbeam," said the Moon-
beam, wistfully. " I should like to see one so
much ; " and all night long she sat close beside
the Nightingale, with her head leaning on his
breast, whilst he sang to her of the Sunbeam ; and
his song was so loud and clear that it awoke the
Bullfinch, who flew into a rage, and declared that
if it went on any longer she would speak to the
Owl about it, and have it stopped. For the Owl
was chief judge, and always ate the little birds
when they did not behave themselves.

But the Nightingale never ceased, and the
Moonbeam listened till the tears rose in her
eyes and her lips quivered.

" To-night, then, I shall see him," whispered the
Moonbeam, as she kissed the Nightingale, and
bid him adieu.

" And to-night he will see you," said the
Nightingale, as he settled to rest among the
leaves.

All that next day was cloudy, and the Sun did
not shine, but towards evening the clouds passed

The Story of the Opal. 65

away and the Sun came forth, and no sooner had
it appeared than the Nightingale saw our Sun-
beam's ladder placed close to his nest, and in an
instant the Sunbeam was beside him.

" Dear, dear Nightingale," he said caressingly,
" you are right. She is more lovely than the
dawn. I have thought of her all night and all
day. Tell me, will she come again to-night ? I
will wait to see her."

" Yes, she will come, and you may speak to
her, but you must not touch her," said the Night-
ingale ; and then they were silent and waited.

Underneath the oak-tree lay a large white
Stone, a common white Stone, neither beautiful
nor useful, for it lay there where it had fallen,
and bitterly lamented that it had no object in life.
It never spoke to the birds, who scarcely knew it
could speak; but sometimes, if the Nightingale
lighted upon it, and touched it with his soft
breast, or the Moonbeam shone upon it, it felt as
if it would break with grief that it should be so
stupid and useless. It watched the Sunbeams
and Moonbeams come down on their ladders, and
wondered that none of the birds but the Night-
ingale thought the Moonbeam beautiful. That

66 The Story of the Opal.

evening, as the Sunbeam sat waiting, the Stone
watched it eagerly, and when the Moonbeam
placed her tiny ladder among the leaves, and slid
down it, it listened to all that was said.

At first the Moonbeam did not speak, for she
did not see the Sunbeam, but she came close to
the Nightingale, and kissed it as usual.

" Have you seen him again ?" she asked. And,
on hearing this, the Sunbeam shot out from among
the green leaves, and stood before her.

For a few minutes she was silent ; then she
began to shiver and sob, and drew nearer to the
Nightingale, and if the Sunbeam tried to approach
her, she climbed up her ladder, and went farther
still.

" Do not be frightened, dearest Moonbeam,"
cried he piteously ; " I would not, indeed, do you
any harm, you are so very lovely, and I love you
so much."

The Moonbeam turned away sobbing.

" I do not want you to love me," she said, " for
if you touch me I shall die. It would have been
much better for you not to have seen me ; and now
I cannot go back and be happy in the Moon, for
I shall be always thinking of you."

The Story of the Opal. 67

" Could it have been better not to love, as I
love you ? I do not care if I die or not, now that
I have seen you ; and see," said the Sunbeam
sadly, " my end is sure, for the Sun is fast sinking,
and I shall not return to it, I shall stay with you."
"Go, while you have time," cried the Moon-
beam. But even as she spoke the Sun sank
beneath the horizon, and the tiny gold ladder of
the Sunbeam broke with a snap, and the two
sides fell to earth and melted away.

" See," said the Sunbeam, " I cannot return now,
neither do I wish it I will remain here with you
till I die."

" No, no," cried the Moonbeam. " Oh, I shall
have killed you ! What shall I do ? And look, there
are clouds drifting near the Moon ; if one of them
floats across my ladder it will break it. But I
cannot go and leave you here ; " and she leaned
across the leaves to where the Sunbeam sat, and
looked into his eyes. But the Nightingale saw
that a tiny white cloud was sailing close by the
Moon — a little cloud no bigger than a spot of white
wool, but quite big and strong enough to break
the Moonbeam's little ladder.

" Go, go at once. See ! your ladder will break,"

f 2

68 The Story of the Opal.

he sang to her ; but she did not notice him, but sat
watching the Sunbeam sadly. For a moment the
Moon's light was obscured, as the tiny cloud sailed
past it ; then the little silver ladder fell to earth,
broken in two and shrunk away ; but the Moon-
beam did not heed it.

"It does not matter," she said, " for I should
never have gone back and left you here, now that
I have seen you."

So all night long they sat together in the oak-
tree, and the Nightingale sang to them, and the
other birds grumbled that he kept them awake.
But the two were very happy, though the Sun-
beam knew he was growing paler every moment,
for he could not live twenty-four hours away from
the Sun.

When the dawn began to appear, the Moon-
beam shivered and trembled.

" The strong Sun," she said, " would kill me,
but I fear something even worse than the Sun.
See how heavy the clouds are ! Surely it is going
to rain, and rain would kill us both at once. Oh,
where can we look for shelter before it comes ? "

The Sunbeam. looked up, and saw that the rain
was coming.

The Story of the Opal. 69

"Come," he said, "let us go;" and they
wandered out into the forest, and sought for a
sheltering place, but every moment they grew
weaker.

When they were gone, the Stone looked up at
the Nightingale and said, —

" Oh, why did they go ? I like to hear them

talk, and they are so pretty ; they can find no
shelter out there, and they will die at once. See !
in my side there is a large hole where it is quite
dark, and into which no rain can come. Fly after
them and tell them to come ; that I will shelter
them." So the Nightingale spread his wings, and
flew singing, —

70 The Story of the Opal.

" Come back, come back ! The Stone will shelter
you. Come back at once before the rain falls."

They had wandered out into an open field, but
when she heard the Nightingale, the Moonbeam
turned her head and said, — •

" Surely that is the Nightingale singing. See !
he is calling us."

" Follow me," sang the bird. " Back at once
to shelter in the Stone." But the Moonbeam
tottered and fell.

" I am grown so weak and pale," she said, " I
can no longer move."

Then the Nightingale flew to earth. " Climb
upon my back," he said, " and I will take you
both back to the Stone." So they both sat upon
his back, and he flew with them to the large Stone
beneath the tree.

" Go in," he said, stopping in front of the hole ;
and both passed into the hole, and nestled in the
darkness within the Stone.

Then the rain began. All day long it rained,
and the Nightingale sat in his nest half asleep.
But when the Moon rose, after the Sun had set,
the clouds cleared away, and the air was again
full of tiny silver ladders, down which the Moon-

The Story of the Opal. 7 1

beams came, but the Nightingale looked in vain
for his own particular Moonbeam. He knew
she could not shine on him again, therefore he
mourned, and sang a sorrowful song. Then he

V ' izSS&'^Bltm

flew down to the Stone, and sang a song at the
mouth of the hole, but there came no answer.
So he looked down the hole, into the Stone, but
there was no trace of the Sunbeam or the Moon-
beam — only one shining spot of light, where they
had rested. Then the Nightingale knew that
they had faded away and died.

" They could not live away from the Sun and
Moon," he said. " Still, I wish I had never told the
Sunbeam of her beauty ; then she would be here

72 The Story of the Opal.

now." So all night long he sang his saddest
songs, and told their story again and ag&in.

When the Bullfinch heard of it she was quite
pleased. " Now, at last," she said, " we shall hear
the end of the Moonbeam. I am heartily glad,
for I was sick of her."

" How much they must have loved each other ! "
said the Dove. " I am glad at least that they died
together," and she cooed sadly.

But through the Stone wherein the beams had
sheltered, shot up bright beautiful rays of light,
silver and gold. They coloured it all over with
every colour of the rainbow, and when the Sun
or Moon warmed it with their light it became
quite brilliant. So that the Stone, from being
the ugliest thing in the whole forest, became the
most beautiful.

Men found it and called it the Opal. But the
Nightingale knew that it was the Sunbeam and
Moonbeam who, in dying, had suffused 7 the Stone
with their mingled colours and light; and the Nighc-
ingale will never forget them, for every night he
sings their story, and that is why his song is so sad.

The Story of the Opal. 73

" I like that kind of story," said the Brooch ;
" it is instructive as well as amusing. Now we
know why the Opal has changing colours."

" I cannot bring myself to believe anything so
improbable," said the Shawl-pin, scornfully. " I
have known a great number of Opals, and they
never told me any such thing."

" Do you dispute my word ? " said the Pin,
fiercely, and a quarrel was just going to begin
when a hand descended on the Pincushion, and
taking up the Shawl-pin and Brooch, bore them
both away.

" Shawl-pins are always quarrelsome," said the
Pin to itself, " and my story was the best after
all." And then, having nothing else to do, it went
to sleep.

END OF ON A PINCUSHION.

SIEGFRID AND HANDA.

N the border of a large forest
there once stood a little vil-
lage, where all the people
were happy, for they were
all good and industrious and
honest 1 1 was the pleasantest
little village in the world. No fevers or illnesses
ever came near it The people died only of old age,
and all the children were well grown and strong.
The villagers never quarrelled with each other, but
lived as peacefully as the flowers in the forest
Now, there was an old proverb about the place,
which said that as long as the people were honest
and hardworking, and never quarrelled or were

Siegfrid and Handa. 75

greedy or avaricious, no troubles should come
near them, but that heavy misfortune would fall
on them directly they forgot to behave well. The
children in this village were as happy as their
parents, but perhaps the happiest child of all was
little Siegfrid, the shoemaker's little son. He had
no brothers or sisters, but he never felt lonely, for
he played with the millers little daughter Handa,
who was just his own age, and as pretty a little
maiden as you would wish to see. Siegfrid's
father, Ralph, was the only shoemaker in the
village, and made shoes and boots for all the
people. Once a year each one would come to
him and say, " Ralph, I want a new pair of shoes,
and be sure you make them as good as the last."
So Ralph had plenty to do, but he took a long
time making each pair, for he always wanted
them to be well made, and would have been
ashamed if he had been told that they had worn
out before their time or did not fit well.

His father meant to teach little Siegfrid his
trade, and that he should be village shoemaker
after him ; and when he was grown up Siegfrid
meant to marry Handa, and already the villagers,
when they saw the children walking hand in hand

76 Siegfrid and Handa.

to and from school, as they did every day, laughed
and said, " There go Siegfrid and his little
wife."

The forest near was full of birds and animals,
and as the villagers never hunted or hurt them in
any way, they had grown quite tame. The birds
would fly down from the branches and sit upon
the shoulders of the passers-by, or flutter round
their heads singing. The squirrels sat still and
let any one stroke them, and even the timid hares
came and gently rubbed themselves against the
children's legs and feet, with no more fear of them
than a pussy cat would have had ; in fact, the
animals in the forest were as peaceful and happy
as the men and women in the village.

One day there came along the high road a
queer little old man — an ugly-looking man — with
small eyes and a peaked cap on his head. On
his back he carried a heavy pack like a pedlar's.
When he got into the village he stopped and
began to undo it, whilst all the children stood
round him staring. Every one who passed stopped
and looked at him, for it was very unusual for any
stranger to come to the village. Then the old
man took some poles and a board, which he had

Siegfrid and Handa. 77

carried on his back also, and with them he made
a stall, which he placed by the roadside. Then
he undid his pack and took from it a number of
boots and shoes, which he placed on the stall,
and then sat down himself on a little stool
behind it.

All the children gathered round the stall to
look, for never had they seen such a number of
boots and shoes together before. There were
big ones and little ones, blue, green, red, yellow,
violet, every colour — some with bows and rosettes,
others quite plain. And all had their prices
marked on them ; and oh ! how cheap they were !
The boots and shoes Ralph made cost three
times as much.

After a time the old man began to sing : —

" Come, buy ! come, buy !
Shoes for all.
Who'll try? who'll try?"

" Red shoes and blue shoes,
Black shoes and white shoes,
Thick shoes and thin shoes,
Strong shoes and light shoes."

But the villagers all passed on, and only laughed
as they looked back at the stall, and said, " We

78 Siegfrid and Handa.

don't want him here. We have Ralph to make
our boots and shoes, and he does quite well for
us." So no customers came to the old man that
day, and when night came he quietly packed up
his wares and took his stall to pieces, and went
his way. But the first thing next morning there
he was again putting up his stall and covering it
with boots and shoes. Every day for many
weeks he came and sat by the roadside, in exactly
the same spot, singing the same rhyme, and still
no one went near him to buy his goods, and the
children grew so used to him that they no longer
stopped to stare at him.

But one day a young girl named Lisbeth, the
daughter of the baker, came near the stall, and
looked at a pair of red shoes, with pretty buckles,
and the old man looked at her, but did not say a
word. Then she turned away, but she felt the
money in her pocket as she walked, and she looked
back at the shoes, and the old man nodded and
chuckled to himself as he watched her. Next
morning she came again, but this time she took
up the shoes in her hand, and examined them well ;
she turned them about a little, and then she put
them down and walked away as before ; but in the

Siegfrid and Handa. 79

evening she came back, and took them up again,
and this time she did not lay them down, but took
out her money, and paid the old man for them, and
then ran away, hiding the shoes under her apron,
for she was rather afraid of being laughed at
for having bought shoes of the old man. At
once she took them to her greatest friend, who
was a girl named Alys. " Look at these pretty
pink shoes," she said. " I have just bought them
of the old man at the stall, and they only cost
five silver pennies. See how pretty they are ! "
Alys looked at them and said, " It is true they
are very pretty, but I don't think they will wear
well ; however, as they are so very cheap, that
does not much matter. I wonder if he has
another pair just like them, that I could buy."

So Lisbeth and Alys went back to the stall, and
Alys bought a pair of shoes just like Lisbeth s ;
and then they both went to show them to the other
young girls in the village, and one by one each
said she would have a pair for herself, till there
was not a girl who was not wearing the old man's
shoes. Then the women began. If they were
so cheap, they said, why should they not buy them
too ? They were not bound to buy only Ralph's

80 Siegfrid and Handa.

goods. So after a time all the women had bought
boots for themselves, and shoes for their little ones,
from the old man, and then they began to per-
suade their husbands to go and buy of him
also. At first all the men refused, saying that
Ralph had made their boots all his life, and it
was unfair to give him up now ; but the women
went on persuading, and one by one the men con-
sented ; till at last there was no one in the village,
except Ralph and his son, little Siegfrid, who was
not wearing the old man's boots and shoes. At
first Ralph only laughed, and said that they would
soon come back to his little shop when they found
what the old man's boots were worth, for no one
could sell good things at such a price. But the
boots wore out, and still all the people went back
again to the old man's stall for more, though they
knew that they would not last for long.

Then Ralph looked very grave, and began to
say to every one that if they did not change, and re-
turn to buy his boots and shoes, as before, he would
have to leave the village and go elsewhere, where
his goods would find customers, for he could not
live there if he sold nothing.

But strange to say, just at this time, though

Siegfrid and Handa. 81

the spring was well advanced, there was one
night a bitter black frost, and in the morning the
farmers found that all the young green corn was
nipped and killed. Such a thing had never been
known to happen before, and much it frightened
the people, for what would they do if they had no
corn with which to make their bread ?

Then there fell over everything a terrible blight,
and it killed all the young fruit, which fell from
the trees. This alarmed the people even more,
for it would indeed be bad if they had neither
fruit nor bread to eat.

Then the weather turned very hot — so hot that
no one could endure it — and all the grass was
dried up, and the cows had nothing to eat, so that
there was no milk to be had ; and then the wells
and streams began to dry up, and the people began
to fear there would soon be no water either. The
rains did not come, and then, worst of all, a bad
fever broke out in the village, and many persons
fell sick. Still, no one thought that all these
misfortunes had anything to do with the old
shoemaker, who still sat by the roadside, selling
his shoes and singing his queer rhymes. At last,
one day, one of the men remembered the old

G

82 Siegfrid and Handa.

saying, that the people of that village should
always be prosperous as long as they were honest
and industrious, and neither cruel nor greedy.

" But it is not our conduct," said they, "which
has brought all this trouble on us, for we have
been neither cruel, nor dishonest, nor greedy."

But little Handa shook her head and said, " You
are very cruel, you are letting poor Ralph starve,
because you will all buy your boots and shoes of
the new old man. Ralph has worked well for
you all his life, and now you all leave him and
buy boots from the old man, just because he is
new, though you know they are not half as good
as Ralph's."

" You are talking of what you don't understand,
Handa," said her father, the miller, angrily. "Of
course it is right for us to buy everything as
cheaply as we can. Be quiet, child !" And every
one was angry with Handa for speaking ; but
she thought just the same, and she cried when
she saw Ralph, or his wife, or Siegfrid.

The fever in the village spread, and Ralph
caught it, and was very ill, and had to lie in bed
all day. He could not now have made boots,
if any one had come to buy them of him. At

S leg f rid and Han da. 83

last he and his wife grew so poor that she had to
sell all their furniture, to buy bread for them to
eat. When that was gone she began to sell all
the clothes they could do without, even to the
boots from their feet, so that little Siegfrid and
she had to go about barefoot. The famine in the
village grew worse, and the men began to trap
and kill the animals in the forest to eat. At last
there came a worse misfortune than all. A little
girl named Frieda, the daughter of a farmer, dis-
appeared, and could not be found anywhere.
They sought for her far and near, in the village
and in the forest, but she was nowhere to be
found, and every one made up their minds that she
had been stolen. But next day another little girl
was missing, and it was vain to search for either.
The next day another went, and then another,
and another, till five little girls had disappeared ;
and on the sixth day little Handa went also.
Then the people all sallied forth in a body, with
swords and sticks ; and they walked for miles
around the village, and sought in every corner of
the forest, but no trace of the children could be
seen. Still, Handa's father would not rest, but
walked about looking for her both day and night,

g 2

84 Siegfrid and Handa.

whilst poor Siegfrid sought till his feet were
blistered, and cut, and he was so weary that he
could go no farther.

No one, who had known it in its old days,
would have recognized the little village again.
Instead of the villagers looking healthy, and
happy, and rosy, they were worn, and sad, and
pale, whilst the women's eyes were red with
crying for the lost children. The houses were
tumbling down, and nonq of the people seemed
to have strength or care to build them up
again.

Over all the place hung a hot thick mist, and
each day the fever grew worse, and more were
ill.

The second evening after Handa had dis-
appeared, Siegfrid wandered into the forest to cry
by himself. Even that was changed ; no birds
sang sweetly in the branches as of yore. The
leaves on the trees were turning brown, and fall-
ing before their time, and the animals darted
away at the sound of footsteps, afraid lest they
might be caught and killed.

As Siegfrid walked along he kicked something
with his foot, and found it was a trap in which a

Siegfrid and Handa. 85

poor little Hare had been caught, and was held by
one leg.

" Poor Hare," said Siegfrid, " perhaps you used

to play about us when I walked herewith Handa.
I will let you go, and then another time you will

86 Siegfrid and Handa.

be careful not to be caught ;" so he undid the trap,
and the Hare sprang from it, but instead of run-
ning away, as Siegfrid had expected, it sat quite
still in front of him, looking into his face.

" I saw Handa last night," it said at last, in a
wheezy voice.

Siegfrid stared, but he was so overjoyed at
hearing again of Handa, that he quite got over
his surprise at hearing a Hare speak.

"Saw Handa!" he cried. " Oh, where? Is
she alive ? Oh, tell me."

"She is in a cavern underground," said the
Hare. " She and all the other little girls are
sitting there in a row, and they cannot move or
speak, because on their feet are magic shoes that
the old shoemaker made for them, which hold
them as still as marble. He waited for them one
by one near the village, and gave to each a pair
of pretty yellow shoes, and when she had put
them on, they ran away with her, and she could
not stop try what she might ; and the shoes took
her right into the middle of the forest. Then
the ground opened, and the shoes ran right down
into the cavern underground, and the earth closed
up again ; and there sit poor Handa and the

Siegfrid and Handa. 87

other five little girls, who were all brought there
in the same way ; and they will never move till
some one pulls the shoes from their feet. Now
the old man is waiting till to-night, when he
will steal another little girl, and that will make
seven, and then he will take them away and
kill them. In reality he is a kind of gnome, and
very cruel and wicked. He has disguised himself
as a shoemaker, that he may steal these little
girls. He belongs to a kind which only lives
three hundred years, and then they begin to
grow small, and gradually become less and less,
till at last they vanish quite into air, unless they
can steal seven little girls from whose bones they
make a dreadful charm, which gives them life for
another hundred years. I cannot tell you how
many children this old man has killed, for he is
nearly two thousand years old ; but now the time
has come for him to kill seven more children, and
if he cannot do it, he will shrivel and shrink, and
at last vanish away."

Then Siegfrid clapped his hands. " That will
be capital ! " he cried. " I will go and pull the
shoes off their fept at once, and then when he
comes he will find them gone, and he will not be

88 Siegfrid and Handa.

able to get more in time, so that he will shrink
and vanish."

The Hare shook its head. " You are going too
fast," it said. " The shoes cannot be drawn from
the children's feet as long as a single person in
the village is wearing the boots and shoes made
by the old man. So the first thing you must do
will be to get all the shoes from every one in the
village, and put them all into a heap, and burn
them all together."

"But how can I do that?" asked Siegfrid.
" The people will never give me their boots to
burn, and if I tell them all you tell me they will
not believe me."

" Let us go and ask the Owl," said the Hare.
"He flies about at night when there is no one to
see. Perhaps he would steal them for you and
bring them here." So Siegfrid and the Hare
started off together to find the Owl. He was
sitting on a bough half asleep, for it was yet
light, so he had not quite waked up, and Siegfrid
had to throw a bit of wood at him to wake him.
He looked very cross when he opened his eyes
and heard what they wanted, but he said, —

" I will do it for you if you will pay me. If

Siegfrid and Handa. 89

you will give me one of your eyes, I will bring
you every one's boots from the village to-night,
after they are all in bed."

" But why do you want my eye?" said Sieg-
frid. "It can be of no use to you. You will not
be able to see with my eye ; and perhaps Handa
will not love me if I have only one eye."

" That's not my business," said the Owl. " I
want your eye, and I will not get you the shoes
without it. I am very blind, and I think I might
see better with your eye than I do with my

own."

" Very well, then," said Siegfrid, sighing.
" Bring me the boots and shoes, and you shall
have what you want."

" Come back at twelve to-night to this same
place, and you will find all the boots and shoes
here," croaked the Owl, and then he went to sleep
again, and Siegfrid wandered about the forest
alone, for the Hare soon scampered away, saying
she would be back at night. But Siegfrid would
not go home for fear he should be kept there, and
not allowed to go back to the forest.

He cried at the thought of losing one of his
bright brown eyes. " But I would give both my

90 Siegfrid and Handa.

eyes for Handa," he said to himself, "only then I
should not be able to see her at all."

The evening wore away, and when twelve
o'clock came, he went back to the place where he
had left the Owl, and there, on a large bare spot
under the trees, were heaped in a pile all the
boots and shoes that the old man had sold since
he came to the village.

Most were nearly worn out ; some, indeed, were
nothing more than old soles with little bits of
leather hanging to them ; but there they all
were. There was the pretty pair of blue shoes
that had first tempted Lisbeth, with the rosette
torn off and worn quite white, and with great
holes in the sides, and there also was the pair
which Alys had bought like them.

On one side of the heap was the Owl, and the
Hare sat beside him.

" There they all are," said the Owl. " Now let
me be paid." .

Siegfrid sighed, but he would not break his
promise ; so he took out his right eye and gave it
to the Owl, who flew away with it, hooting in
triumph.

" I hope Handa will know me," he thought ;

Siegfrid and Handa. 91

and he felt almost inclined to cry, but he would
not let the Hare see it, so he only said,—

" Let us set fire to them at once, then."

" First listen to me," said the Hare, " for
when the shoes begin to burn I shall run off.
When they have quite burnt out, you will find a
heap of black ashes, and amongst them you must
search carefully, and you will find a pair of
sandals that seem not the least burnt or singed.
These you must put on, and then stamp hard
upon the ground, and it will open, and in front of
you, you will see a long dark passage which leads
to the underground cavern in which sit Handa
and her companions. The sandals will last till
you again step out of the passage into the forest,
and then they will crumble and fall to pieces as
if they had been burnt. So now good-bye. I
should not have told you if you had not let me
out of the trap."

" Good-bye, kind Hare, and thank you for tell-
ing me," said Siegfrid, as the Hare ran off.

Then he took a bit of dry wood and set it
alight, and placed it under the pile of boots.
They soon caught fire, and burnt steadily, but
Siegfrid noticed that they made no noise except a

»

92 Siegfrid and Handa.

low hissing like water boiling. The pile went on
burning for some time, and then went out quite
suddenly, with a loud bang, leaving no sparks or
smoke, and when Siegfrid felt among the ashes
he found they were quite cold. He searched
among them as the Hare had directed, and at the
bottom of the heap he found a pair of sandals,
which seemed to be quite unhurt by the fire. He
drew them on to his feet, and then standing in the
middle of the ashes stamped hard. At once he
felt the earth begin to move, and a great hole
opened in front of him, which appeared to be the
beginning of a long dark passage.

Siegfrid summoned all his courage, and sitting
on the edge of the hole dropped gently into the
passage, and ran down it. It was quite dark, and
so narrow that if he moved either of his hands
he knocked the walls, and if he stretched his
neck he touched the ceiling. There was only
just room for him to walk, so that there was no
fear of his losing his way. He went on and on,
and still there was no light or no opening to right
or to left. Then he began to call. He called
" Handa, Handa, Handa!" and the name rang
back to him from every side, but he knew it was

Siegfrid and Handa. 93

not Handa's voice he heard, but only a mocking
echo. He feared the Hare had deceived him, and
he might go on wandering in this dark passage
for ever. He felt inclined to sit down and cry
in despair, but there was no room to sit down,
and just as he grew so tired that he thought he
could go no farther, he saw in the distance a dim
red light, and making one last effort he ran
towards it. He found it came from a large bare
vault, into which the passage led, and which was
quite brilliantly lighted, though thee was neither
candle, lamp, nor window. On the farther side of
the vault were sitting in a row what he at first
believed to be six statues, but on looking a second
time, to his great joy, he saw it was Handa and
her five companions.

" Handa!" he cried. " Come, it is I." But
Handa never moved, but sat as if she were turned
to stone, looking straight in front of her. Then
Siegfrid remembered the magic shoes on her feet,
and running to her pulled them off at once.
Handa jumped up, and the first thing she said was,
" Siegfrid, what have you done to your eye ? "

Siegfrid told her all that had happened, and
how he had given his eye to the Owl, and said he

94 Siegfrid and Handa.

did not care for the loss of his eye now that he
had found her ; but Handa cried, and told him
that she had rather the old man had killed her
than that he should have lost his eye.

Then they turned to the five other little girls,
who still sat like marble figures, and Siegfrid
drew the shoes from their feet, and one by one
they sprang up, and thanked him for coming to
save them. Siegfrid showed them the long dark
passage, and then led the way up it, the children
following close behind him.

When they got to the opening in the forest,
they saw that the sun was shining brightly, so
that four or five hours had passed since Siegfrid
had burnt the shoes, although it had seemed
much less.

He helped all the children out of the hole, and
then jumped out himself, but no sooner were
his feet again upon the grass than the sandals
fell from them and crumbled to bits, as if they
too had been .burnt to ashes, and at the same
moment the hole in the ground closed up, and no
mark was left where it had been.

The miller, Handas father, was so wearied
with searching, that he was obliged to lie down

Siegfrid and Handa. 95

to sleep that night, but at sunrise he sprang up to
start again on the hunt after the lost children.

When he was dressed he could not find his
boots anywhere.

" 'Tis very odd," he said, " for I know I placed
them here. Wife, have you seen my boots ? " But
the wife said she had seen nothing of them, and,
what was very strange, she could not find her own
boots either.

" Never mind," quoth he, " I can walk as well
without boots."

So he started with his feet bare, but when he
came to the roadside where the old man was as
usual putting up his stall, he paused.

" Neighbour," he said, " could you let me have
a pair of very cheap boots this morning ? I can't
find my own anywhere."

And the old man answered as usual, —

" Come, buy ! come, buy !
Shoes for all.
Who'll try? who'll try?"

As the miller took up some of the boots to
choose a pair, he looked at the old man and
said, " Why, friend, what's wrong ? Are you ill ?
You have grown very pale and thin in the night."

96 Siegfrid and Handa.

But the old man said nothing, and the miller
chose a pair of boots which he thought likely to
fit, and put them on. But no sooner were they
on his feet than they crumbled and fell to pieces
as if they had been burnt to ashes. At this the
miller stared, but the little old man turned paler
than before, and he began to shake with fear.

" Why, man," cried the miller, " what ails the
boots ? They are as rotten as an old potato.
Give me another pair." So he chose another pair,
and put them on, but the same thing happened
again. The moment they were upon his feet
they crumbled and fell away like dry ashes.
At this the miller flew into a violent rage.

" What do you mean by selling such things ? "
he cried. " Give me another pair, and be sure
that this time they are sound, for if they go like
the last 111 beat you black and blue. No man
shall serve me such a trick three times."

But now the old man began to tremble in
every limb, and his teeth chattered in his head
with fear, whilst every moment he looked thinner
and smaller, for he knew now that his wicked
charms had been broken.

The miller took the third pair of boots, but

Siegfrid and Handa. 97

they were just like the other two, and at this his
rage knew no bounds. He seized the old man
by the collar, to drag him into the market-place,
there to flog him soundly before all the people.
But as he came near it he saw a great crowd, and
there, in the centre of it, were Siegfrid and Handa
and the five little girls.

When Handa saw her father she ran straight
into his arms, and he let go the little old man,
who crouched upon the ground. Siegfrid told
the miller and the people all that had happened,
and they all turned to look for the wicked old
man who had caused all the trouble.

" What shall we do to him ? " they cried.

" How shall we punish him ? "

" Let us beat him," said one.

" Let us put him in prison," said another.

" Nay," said Siegfrid, " his punishment will
come of itself. See ! it is coming already ; " and
when they looked at him, as he still crouched on
the ground in front of the miller, they saw that
he was already only half his former size, and that
every moment he grew smaller and smaller. All
the people stood staring at him and held their
breath in intense astonishment, for the old man

H

98 Siegfrid and Handa.

now shrank so fast that soon he would not be
visible at all. Smaller and smaller he grew
every moment, till at last he was nothing but a
mere speck, and then he was gone altogether.

For a few moments every one was silent ; at last
the miller said, " Let us all be thankful that he is
gone. And now see here : Siegfrid has brought
us back our girls, and has lost his eye for them ;
how shall we reward him ? "

Then all the people turned and looked at Sieg-
frid, who stood beside Handa.

"We will give him whatever he likes best,"
cried one.

"We will work for him all his life," said
another.

" Nay," said Siegfrid, " I don't want that, but
promise me that as long as my father works well
for you and makes you good shoes, you will not
buy them of any one else. You brought all your
troubles on yourselves by your cruelty in leaving
him to starve after he had worked for you all his
life."

"The boy is right," said the miller; "we
behaved very wickedly and selfishly, and we have
been justly punished for our conduct."

Siegfrid and Handa. 99

Little by little everything in the village grew
better. The fever went, and the thick fogs
cleared away ; the cottages were rebuilt, and
fresh rains fell and revived the parched grass.
Still, though all soon looked bright and cheerful
as ever, the people knew that it could never be the
same as before the old man came to it. They
knew that the charm was broken, and that theirs
was no better than all the other villages in the
world. But it always was a very happy home
to Siegfrid, who, when he grew up, was the
village shoemaker, and married Handa, and lived
happily to the end of his days.

THE HAIR TREE.

IANY years ago there lived a
young Queen who was said to
be the most beautiful woman
in the world. Her skin was
white and smooth as ivory,
and her eyes bright as stars.
But her greatest beauty was her hair. It was
neither black nor gold, but exactly half way
between, just the colour of a dead beech-leaf
It was so long that it trailed behind her on the
ground, and so thick that it took three maids to
plait and arrange it every morning. Every day
it was scented and washed by the court hair-
dresser, who examined it carefully to see that it

The Hair Tree. 101

was not growing thinner or falling off. The
Queen's husband, the King, was as proud of it as
his wife, and gave her all sorts of lovely jewellery
with which to dress it — diamond pins and golden
combs — and by his special command the court
gardener always kept the best flowers for the
Queen to place in her hair.

And not only the King and Queen, but all the
courtiers and court ladies — indeed, every one in
the country — praised and admired this beautiful
hair ; and although some of the court ladies were
rather jealous of it, yet all agreed that it would
be a real national misfortune if any harm came
to it

One morning the Queen was sitting at her
window at work, when a big bird flew past. It
was much like an eagle, with a hooked beak and
ugly fierce eyes. It hovered around the window
for some time, and at last settled on a tree outside
and watched the Queen, who did not look up till
she was surprised by hearing the bird say in a
croaking voice, —

" Good day, Queen ; you've plenty of hair."

The Queen laughed, well pleased that even a
common eagle should notice her beautiful tresses.

The Hair Tree.

" Yes," she said, shaking it around her. " I've
more than any other lady in the land."

" Then you've enough to give me a little," said
the bird. " I can't find anything soft to line my
nest with, and some of your hair would do
nicely."

"My hair!" cried the Queen, staring at the
bird in astonishment ; '* my beautiful hair to line
your common nest with ! You must be mad. Do
you know that I'm the Queen, and that I value
my hair more than anything on earth ? "

The Hair Tree. 103

" Nevertheless, it would do very nicely for my
nest, and I advise you to give me some of it,"
croaked the eagle.

" Indeed, I shall do nothing of the kind," said
the Queen, eagerly. " I never heard such imper-
tinence in my life. Fly away immediately, or I
will send out some of the soldiers to shoot
you."

" They couldn't do it," said the bird, with a low
laugh ; " and if you tell them to try, you will be
sorry for it afterwards. Now, I shall only give
you one more chance. Queen, will you give me
some of your hair for my nest ? "

" No, I shall not," answered the Queen, half
crying with anger ; " it is very presumptuous of
you to ask for such a thing."

The bird said no more, but rising into the air
began to fly slowly round and round the tree on
which he had been perched, and as he flew he
sang these words in a low voice, —

" As the wind blows this tree's twigs bare,
So shall the proud Queen lose her hair ;
The leaves shall come back with the first spring rain,
But when shall the Queen find her hair again?"

When he had done, the eagle gave a shrill cry

104 The Hair Tree.

and disappeared, leaving the Queen in astonish-
ment at his conduct.

It was autumn, and she heard the wind whist-
ling in the branches, and presently a number of
leaves dropped from the cherry-tree, and fluttered
to the ground, and, at the same moment, a hand-
ful of her curls fell out into her lap.

The Queen started up in alarm, and ran with
tears in her eyes to the King to tell him what
had happened. The King laughed at her fears,
assuring her the bird could do her no harm,
and that it was only by chance that her hair fell
out just then.

Yet the Queen could not feel comfortable, and
that night, when her ladies were brushing her
hair, a quantity came out on the brushes and two
or three locks fell to the ground. Next morning
when she awoke she found some long soft brown
tresses lying loose on her pillow, and when she
got out of bed, a whole shower fell from her head
to the floor.

The Queen wrung her hands in despair, and
at once sent for the court hairdresser, who came,
bringing with him a number of bottles, all con-
taining lotions to make the hair grow ; but all the

The Hair Tree. 105

lotions in the world were of no use. There was
no denying the fact that the Queen's hair was
falling out in a most alarming manner. There was
scarcely enough for her ladies to plait, and a bald
spot was beginning to show on the top of her
head. She dared not look at the cherry-tree to
see if its branches were beginning to look bare
also, but at every gust she heard the leaves
falling, and trembled as she thought how soon
they would all be gone. At last one morning,
after the wind had been very fierce and strong,
she ran to the window, and, looking out, saw that
the cherry-trees branches were quite bare — not a
leaf to be seen anywhere. Then she turned to her
looking-glass, and, dreadful to behold, she was
quite bald also. Her last lock of hair had fallen
off and left her head as smooth and white as an
egg. At this fearful sight the Queen screamed
and fainted, and when her ladies came to help her
they were all so shocked that they could scarcely
speak. As for the King, his grief was so great
that he sobbed aloud.

The Queen was laid on her bed, and the court
physicians and hairdressers held a great consulta-
tion as to what was to be done to make her hair

106 The Hair Tree.

grow, and it was agreed that her head should go
through a regular course of treatment. In the
meantime she said she would keep her room, and
it was given out that she was very ill, in order
that the common people might not know what a
dreadful thing had happened. But all the doctors
and hairdressers could do nothing. Not a single
hair reappeared on the Queens bare white head,
and it was impossible to conceal the fact any
longer. There was great sorrow all over the
country when it became known, and a general
mourning was proclaimed till the Queen's hair
should have grown again. In the meantime she
wore a little lace cap trimmed with jewels. It
was a very pretty little cap, and very becoming —
so, at least, all the courtiers said. But it was not
so beautiful as her own hair, and the Queen felt
this so much that the first time she appeared in
public in her cap she could scarcely help crying.

So things went on for a little time, and the
doctors and hairdressers were all racking their
brains to find something to make hair grow. But
the Queen fretted so much that she lost her
appetite and really fell ill, and was obliged to keep
to her bed. The first night after her illness she

The Hair Tree. 107

dreamt a dream, which she thought about all day
long. She dreamt that she was sitting in the
palace garden, when there came up a little man,
who was the strangest object she had ever seen.
He was no bigger than a big spider, and all
dressed in green. When he saw her he began
to dance and sing this rhyme : —

" When the grass is thin, you must mow it, mow it, mow it,
But when the ground is bare, you must sow it, sow it, sow
it."

And as he sang these words he took out a hand-
ful of tiny seeds from his pocket, and began to
scatter them about. Directly there sprang up a
little plant, which grew and grew and grew until
it became a big tree, and then it put forth buds,
and the buds burst, and there came out not leaves,
but tiny locks of hair, which grew and grew until
they touched the ground, and covered the tree all
over.

When the Queen awoke she could think of
nothing but the strange Hair Tree ; and that night
when she went to sleep she dreamt exactly the
same thing. On the third night she had the same
dream again, and when she awoke she called to

108 The Hair Tree.

her husband, and told him of what she had
dreamt three nights running.

" And now, my dear husband," she continued,
" I am sure that the only thing which can ever
make my hair grow is some seeds from the Hair
Tree. I entreat you to spare no effort to discover
it, and to offer a reward to any one who will bring
you news of it. For I feel " — here the Queen s
voice grew very husky — " that if I do not find it
I shall never recover my hair, and if not, I
shall die, for I cannot live without it." So saying
she fell back on the pillow and closed her eyes.

The King at once called a great meeting of his
lords together, and told them the Queen's dream,
and a herald was sent round to proclaim that one
hundred thousand pounds would be given to any
one who could bring some seeds from the Hair
Tree, or even tell where it was to be found. And
great placards were pasted up all over the kingdom,
offering the reward. So every one began to talk
of this strange Hair Tree, which no one had ever
heard of before, and to wonder where it could be
— for all would have liked to have earned the
reward — but all agreed that the Hair Tree was
nowhere in that country.

The Hair Tree. 109

Now it chanced that a poor sailor named
Rupert saw one of the placards, and stopped to
read it He was a strong young man, but he had
neither father nor mother, nor sisters nor brothers,
and he felt so lonely that he did not care what
became of him.

So when he saw the placard and the large re-
ward that was offered to any one who could bring
news of the Hair Tree, he began to wonder
where it was, and if he could not find it.

" One hundred thousand pounds is a lot of
money," he said to himself. " There is no reason
why I should not find it as well as another man.
I have a good mind to go and look for it, though
it seems rather a wild-goose chase."

So he packed up his things, and took a little
boat, and sailed away towards the north ; for it
was there, he knew, was a strange country where
animals speak like men and women, and plants
have hands and eyes ; and he thought that there
he might find the wonderful Hair Tree.

In the meantime half the young men in the
kingdom had started off to search, hoping to win
the reward. Some went east, some went west,
some north, some south ; and they sought in every

no The Hair Tree.

imaginable place and country. Some gave it up
very soon, and returned home, saying that there
was no such tree. Others went on and on, asking
every one they met if they had heard of or seen
it, and finding no trace of it, yet, being determined
not to give it up and return home empty-handed,
went still farther and farther. And so months
passed away, and the Queen's head still remained
bald.

In order that her Majesty might not be annoyed
by the sight of other women's hair when her own
was gone, the King ordered that they should all
wear little caps which quite covered the head
and came down on the forehead ; and because
no one liked these caps, and all thought them very
unbecoming, the court ladies were almost as
anxious as the Queen that the tree should be
found, and her hair grow again.

Rupert sailed and sailed to the north till he
began to think he must be coming to the magic
country of which he had heard. For a long time
he went on without seeing land anywhere, but at
last he came in sight of a little island standing
quite alone in the middle of the water. On it
there grew neither grass nor flowers of any sort,

The Hair Tree. m

but three solitary trees. One was much like a
common nut-tree, only all the nuts were of a
bright red colour ; the boughs of the second
were laden with precious stones of all kinds,
diamonds and rubies, emeralds and pearls ; but the
third tree was the strangest of all, for its boughs
were quite bare, and looked as if they were made
of polished brass, and on the centre at the top
grew an enormous pod, which pointed straight at
the sky. It looked like a great brass drum.

Rupert pulled up his boat, and, springing on
to the island, filled his pockets full of precious
stones and common nuts, and then stood still
looking at the enormous pod and wondering what
it could contain. While he watched it there was
a noise like a clap of thunder, and the pod burst
asunder, and twelve round shining golden nuts
fell to the ground. At the same time the tree
withered as if it had been struck by lightning,
and the brass branches all fell away.

Rupert was so frightened by the noise the pod
made in bursting that he had buried his face in
the ground, but when he found all was quiet
again, he slowly raised himself, and picked up one
of the gold nuts to examine it As they were

ii2 The Hair Tree.

pretty and bright, he thought he would take
them all for curiosities, and he placed them on
the seat of his little boat. But as he rowed away
from the island he began to feel sure he was
coming to the enchanted land. The fishes no
longer started away from the side of the boat, but
swam after it in a long* trail, and when he baited
his line and threw it overboard not one would
bite, but swam up quite close to the hook and
then turned away, giving little low, scoffing laughs.
Rupert was sorely puzzled, and sat looking at the
water in wonder, when he heard a whirring of
jyings overhead, and a great yellow bird flew
round the boat, and at last perched on the prow
and peered curiously into his face.

After a few minutes it said, " Are those nuts
you have in your pocket ? "

Rupert said " Yes," and drawing out a handful
of the red nuts, offered them to the bird.

" Cfack some and give me the kernels, ,, said
the bird. Rupert obeyed, afraid to refuse, as he
remembered what a dreadful thing had happened
to the poor Queen for not being polite to a bird.
The bird went on eating the nuts, and then said, —

" Where are you going ? "

The Hair Tree. 113

Then the sailor told how the Queen had been
rude to a bird, who had in return destroyed her
hair.

" I know ; that was me," said the bird, with a
chuckle. " Give me some more nuts."

Rupert again handed the bird the nuts, and
then went on relating how the Queen had had a
strange dream of a wonderful Hair Tree, and how
the King had offered a reward to any one who
could find it ; so he was going to look for it.

" You will search a long time for the Hair Tree,
I expect," said the bird, still munching. "If the
Queen waits for her hair till it is found, she will
have to do without it nearly all her life. I sup-
pose shell wish now that she had been civil."
But as he finished speaking, the birds glance fell
on the golden nuts lying on the seat, and with
a shrill cry he flew at them ; but Rupert had
seized them first and held them firmly out of his
reach.

" What are these ? " gasped the bird. " Where
did you get them ? Tell me at once."

"They came," said Rupert, still holding the bag
tightly, " from the single pod of a tree that has
no leaves, and whose branches look like brass, and

1

ii4 The Hair Tree.

that grows on a little island not far from here."
On hearing this the bird gave a low cry, and
crouched down on one side of the boat, where it
sat eyeing Rupert and the nuts greedily, and
shaking with rage. " Then they are the nuts of
the zirbal-tree," he said at last ; " and the pod
has broken when I was not there. For two
thousand years have I waited for that pod to
break, and now it will be two thousand years
before it is ripe again, and it is the only zirbal-
tree living, and there is nothing on earth like
its nuts."

When Rupert saw the bird crouched in one
corner of the seat, with its head lowered and its
feathers ruffled, and remembered how much
mischief it had done, he felt strongly inclined to
seize it and wring its neck, but he restrained
himself, and said, —

" You had better sit up. IVe got the nuts,
and I mean to keep them ; but perhaps, if you'll
answer me one or two questions, I'll give you
one."

On this the bird drew itself up, and, arranging
its ruffled plumage, sat watching Rupert sus-
piciously.

The Hair Tree. 115

" You say you're the bird who charmed away
the Queen's hair. Well, if you'll tell me how she
can grow it again I'll give you a nut"

" What ! " cried the bird, flapping his wings
angrily, "tell you how the Queen can recover
her hair ? Never — I'd sooner never taste a nut
again."

" Very well," said Rupert, picking up a golden
nut, and holding it temptingly towards the bird.
" Only tell me which way I ought to steer to find
the country where the Hair Tree grows, and I
will give you this."

The bird sat silent, with his head on one side,
watching Rupert for some time, and then with a
sudden cry rose into the air and was out of sight
almost before he knew it had moved.

At first he felt angry at this, but as it was
gone, it was no use thinking about it, and, any-
how, he had learnt that the golden nuts were
very valuable, and he thought if it wanted them
so much it might perhaps return for them.

He was right. All day and night he drifted
about without coming in sight of land, but next
morning at sunrise he saw, in the far distance, a
dim line, and at the same moment he heard a

1 2

n6 The Hair Tree.

whirring of wings overhead, and the Eagle flew
down and perched on the edge of the boat as
before.

Rupert remained quiet, without seeming to
notice it, until at last it broke silence with, —

u Are you in the same mind as last night ?
I'll tell you the way to the Hair Tree country
for a zirbal nut."

The sailor took one out of his pocket, and
said, —

" Tell me first, then, and you shall have the nut
afterwards."

"That is the country where the Hair Tree
grows, in front of you," said the bird. " Many
go to it, but very few return."

" Why is that ? " asked Rupert, as he gave
the bird the nut.

" Why ? " repeated the bird, seizing it with his
bill. " You had better go there and find out.
You know now where it is."

Rupert pondered a little ; then he said, "If you
will tell me how to find my way safely to the
Hair Tree and back, when I pass here again I
will give you six whole nuts. And if you refuse
I shall take my gun and shoot you."

The Hair Tree. 117

The bird gave a scornful laugh. " You couldn't
shoot me," he said ; " you can try if you like.
Why, if it were not for the magic fruit in your
pocket, you wouldn't be here now. It is only
that which has protected you from my spells.
Well, perhaps I will do what you want, and tell
you how to find your way to the Hair Tree ; only,
you must promise faithfully to give me the nuts
when you return."

The sailor promised again, and the bird con-
tinued, —

"When you reach land you can go on shore
at any place — it doesn't matter where — and walk
straight on. You will find that all the animals
can speak ; but I advise you not to speak to
any of them. And, whatever you do, beware
of the plants and flowers ; for they all have
hands and arms, and will try to seize you,
and if once they get you nothing can save
you — no, not even your magic nuts. You
must go on till you come to a high wall, in
which is a heavy iron door, over which is
written, —

' Only he who knows can enter here,
Yet only he can know, who enters without fear.'

n8 The Hair Tree.

And you must stand before it, and say, —

' I know, I know ;
Inside the wind does blow,
Inside the waters flow ;
This makes the Hair Tree grow —
I know, I know/

Then the doors will fly open, and you can
pass in. Within grows the Hair Tree. What
else you will find there I shall not say. Now, I
have kept my part of the agreement ; see that
you keep yours when you return."

So saying, the bird flapped his wings once and
disappeared.

Rupert looked about, and finding himself very
near land, rowed to shore, and stepped from his
boat. It seemed to be a pretty sort of country,
and at first he did not notice anything unusual.
He walked straight on till he came to a row of
splendid sunflowers, and stopped in front of
them to admire them, when all at once a pair of
beautiful white hands and arms were thrust out
from the nearest stalk, and grasping him by the
shoulders began to pull him, with a strength he
could not resist At once all the other stalks
had put out their hands, and were reaching

The Hair Tree. 119

towards him. And from above the large yellow
flowers there appeared heads — women's heads —
with beautiful dreamy faces and bright golden
hair. In another moment Rupert felt the arms
would have crushed him to death, for they were
fast tightening their hold, and felt like iron
hands.

Suddenly he remembered the jewels in his
pockets, and drawing out a brilliant emerald,
flashed it before the face of the sunflower in
whose arms he was. " Leave me alone," he
cried, " and you shall have this."

But still the arms bound him with their strong
grasp, and gave no sign of loosening their hold.
Then Rupert took the jewel and, holding it
above his head, said, " If you don't let me go at
once, I will throw it beyond your reach, so that
you will never get it."

For a moment the arms wavered, then they
slowly gave way, and Rupert burst from them
trembling at the danger from which he had
escaped. With haste, and still keeping at arms'
length, he dropped the jewel into the cruel
beautiful white hand that was stretched out to
receive it. Then he ran as fast as he could from

120 The Hair Tree.

the row of sunflowers and sat down, still panting
and trembling, on a large bare stone.

After he had a little recovered himself, he
looked about him, and perceived that not only the
sunflowers but all the trees had hands and arms,
which they were always stretching to try and
catch something, and on looking on the ground
he saw that even the blades of grass were armed
with tiny hands, which they kept stretching into
the air.

For amusement he buried his hand in the
grass, and in an instant it was clutched by a
hundred tiny hands, that pulled it hard. He could
easily draw it away, for it was no more than if
a number of spiders had seized his hand. He
wondered much at this country, where all the
plants seemed to be alive and he had seen no
trace of man or beast. While he was thinking, a
shadow fell across his path, and looking up he
saw a large handsome striped tigress standing in
front of him looking into his face. He at once
put his hand to his gun, and would have shot it if
it had not said in a quiet voice, —

" Why are you going to shoot me ? I shall do
you no harm. How did you come here ? You

The Hair Tree. 121

are the first man who has been on this island since
I came."

Rupert stared in astonishment at hearing a
tigress speak so plainly, and said, —

" I came in a little boat My name is Rupert,
and I am come to look for the Hair Tree. Who
are you ? I never heard a tigress speak before."

" I am not really a tigress ; I am a woman who
was turned into a tigress by a wicked fairy. Tell
me what you want with the Hair Tree, and how
you managed to get here alive, and I will tell you
my story."

So Rupert told the tigress all that had happened
to him ; how he had set out to find the Hair Tree,
and how he had picked up the nuts of the zirbal-
tree, and his promise to the yellow bird, and how
he had only just escaped from the sunflowers.

She listened quietly ; then she said, " You owe
your life to the nuts of the zirbal-tree. They are
enchanted, and that is why the yellow eagle could
not kill you at once, as he would otherwise have
done, for he is a most spiteful creature, but the
magic nuts saved you from him, as well as from
a number of dangers of this island of which you
do not know. You are the first living man who

122 The Hair Tree.

has ever entered so far. Now let us sit down,
and keep well out of reach of the grasping hands,
and I will tell you my story.' '

Rupert sat down, and the tigress arranged her-
self at his feet, and curled her tail beneath her,
and began as follows : —

THE STORY OF TREVINA.

My name was Trevina. I was the youngest of
three sisters, and my father was a miller. I was
the most beautiful of the three. We lived in a
mill on the bank of a river, close by the sea, and
my greatest amusement was to search about on
the rocks for the strange animals and seaweed I
found there.

A little way in the sea was a small island, on
which great sea-birds collected, but where we
never went, as there was nothing to be got there,
and it was difficult to climb on it, for it was sur-
rounded by sharp rocks. Nevertheless I often
looked at it, and wondered what sort of a place it
was, and thought I would try and get to it when
I could.

The Hair Tree.

123

One evening as I was walking along the shore,
I noticed that I was followed by a large tortoise,
who kept close to me, and looked up into my face
beseechingly. I did not think it odd, for there
were plenty of tortoises among the rocks, and

when they were hungry they often followed us,
hoping for food. But when I got home I found
the same tortoise in my room, and not liking to
send away a creature who kept so close to me,

124 The Hair Tree.

I gave it some bread and milk, and a little bit of
matting to sleep on. My sisters laughed at me
for my new pet, but nevertheless I took great
care of my tortoise, and let it follow me where it
liked. After a time, however, its affection for me
became quite tiresome. I could not move without
its following me closely, and even if I fell asleep
and woke I found it sitting watching me. I
began to feel provoked with it, and declared that
if it continued to be so worrying I would take it
and throw it into the sea. Would that I had, alas !

My father owned a boat on the river, and often
on hot afternoons I would step into it, and lie
there, idly gazing at the sky, and enjoying the
rippling motion, and as it was always safely
moored to the side I felt no fear of drifting
away.

On one unlucky afternoon I went out about
sunset, and placed myself comfortably in the
cushions at the bottom of the boat, meaning to
spend an hour in reading. But I was overcome
with the heat, and ere I had been there long fell
fast asleep. I slept soundly, and when I awoke
I found that it was getting quite dark. Starting
up, I saw with terror that the boat was no longer

The Hair Tree. 125

in the river, but had been evidently loosed from
its fastenings and had drifted to sea, and was
already half way to the island. I did not know
that the tortoise had followed me, but looking on
the seat I saw it sitting there, and I felt a positive
hatred for it when I saw the self-satisfied leer
with which it was regarding me. To my fright
and astonishment, it drew near to me, and with a
deep bow said, —

" Be not astonished, lovely Trevina, and be
assured that no h^rm shall come to you. Know
that I am no common tortoise, but am the king
of the tortoises, and only for your sake have
assumed the shape of a common animal, in order
that I might dwell near you. I have loved you
from the first moment I saw you, and now intend
to make you my wife. When we arrive at the
island, where my armies are waiting for me, I
shall appear in my proper form. Resistance
on your part will be useless. From here no
one can hear your cries, and as soon as we
reach the island my people will bore a hole in
the bottom of the boat and sink it, so your return
will be impossible. After a day or two I shall
transport you to my own home. I should do so

126 The Hair Tree.

at once, were it not that I fear the jealousy of my
mother, who wishes me to marry the snake-
princess. "

I scarcely could hear him to the end with
patience. Starting up, I tried to seize him in my
hands, meaning to throw him into the water, and
so rid myself of his impertinence ; but the moment
I touched him his whole shape began to change,
and swell, and he was quickly transformed into
the most hideous figure I had ever beheld. It
was like a little black man not more than two feet
high, and it carried on its back an enormous
shell, while its arms and legs were exactly like
those of an immense tortoise. And its face! I
shudder even now when I remember how hideous
it was. The great glaring eyes, the huge mouth,
the hideous shrivelled skin ! I screamed aloud
with all my might, hoping my father or sisters
might hear, and, turning my face, covered my
eyes with my hands, that they might not be
annoyed by the sight of the disgusting creature.
But all my shrieks were vain, my voice was blown
away by the wind, and no answer came from the
shore. On seeing my distress my tormentor only
laughed.

The Hair Tree. 127

Gradually the boat sailed to the island, and
on looking up I saw that it was covered with
tortoises of all sizes, evidently awaiting our
arrival. I think I must have fainted. Anyhow,
I remember nothing more till I found myself
lying on my back in the middle of the island,
surrounded by tortoises, and their hideous king
leaning tenderly over me. I started up and,
bursting through their lines, ran down to the
waters edge, but finding there no means of escape,
I flung myself on the ground, crying and sobbing.
I felt sure that in time my father and sisters
would miss me, and come to the island to search
for me, but the notion of being left alone with
my horrid tortoise lover till they could come
was dreadful. All that night I sat upon a rock
close by the waters edge, weeping bitterly, but
still feeling quite sure that in the morning I
should see my father coming for me ; but morning
came and he did not appear, and the day passed
away, and still he did not come, and when evening
came round again, I began to fear I must give
myself up, and had determined that, rather than
listen to the odious tortoise-king, I would throw
myself into the water, and so put an end to my

128 The Hair Tree.

life. I was standing upon a rock looking into the
clear green water, and thinking whether I would
wait another day or spring into it at once, and so
end my troubles, when I heard a soft voice above
me saying, " Trevina," and looking up, I saw a
beautiful sea-gull floating in the air.

" Poor Trevina," it said, " I can't carry you
away, but I can take a message to your father. I
hate the tortoise-king and his mother as much
as you do, and would gladly do anything to annoy
them. Tell me what I shall say to your father,
and I will fly to him to-night."

" Will you really, dear, dear gull ? " cried I,
joyfully. " I shall be grateful to you all my life.
Go, then, and tell him that I was stolen by the
tortoise-king, and am upon the little island.
Tell him to come for me at once, and to bring
plenty of guns and swords with which to kill the
tortoises. ,, But scarcely were the words out of
my mouth when there was a rumbling noise
beside me, and with a bang like thunder a gulf
opened in the ground, and there started up
through it a hideous figure, very much like the
tortoise-king, but bigger and fatter, whom I at
once guessed to be his mother. The sea-gull,

The Hair Tree. 129

at sight of her, gave a shrill cry and flew
away.

" So, girl," she cried, in a dreadful voice, " not
content with rejecting my sons noble offers, you
would try to put an end to his life. It is lucky,
indeed, for him that, with a mothers care, I have
been watching him and you, when he thought me
far away. I was sure no good would come of it,
when he honoured you, a common human being,
with his love, instead of offering it, as I wished,
to the snake-princess. But now you shall be
punished. Bitterly may you regret your unfeel-
ing conduct."

At this moment I saw the tortoise -king
coming in haste towards us, waddling as fast as
his little short legs and heavy shell would let him.

He turned to his mother, and, falling on his
knees before her, tried to calm her rage — but in
vain. She continued, more fiercely than before, —

"Yes! you shall' be well punished, for you
shall become a tigress ; and, left by yourself in the
enchanted land, you will wish you had been grate-
ful to my son for his kindness in offering to make
you his wife." Then she waved her black hands in
the air, and I felt a dreadful change coming upon

K

130 The Hair Tree.

me. Hair was growing all over me. My arms
became fore-legs like those of a tiger. I felt that
a tail was beginning to sprout out behind.

" And now," cried the tortoise-queen, her eyes
sparkling with spiteful pleasure, "you may be
very thankful if you remain in your present con-
dition ; but if you only eat one mouthfijl of flesh,
you will become a real tigress, and then you can
never regain your proper form. As it is, the only
way by which you can ever recover your own
shape is by being beaten till you bleed, by a man
with the rods that grow beneath the Hair Tree."

I could not speak : I tried, but my voice was
choked with tears. I clasped my hands, but
found that they would not close on account of the
claws which were growing at the ends. I threw
myself on the ground at the Queen's feet to beg
for mercy, but I was not allowed to remain long,
for, taking me by the nape of my neck, she carried
me quickly through the air, and did not stop till
we reached this island, where she flung me on the
ground with a spiteful laugh, and vanished. For
some time I lay in silent misery, till roused by the
voice of the sea-gull calling me by name, and
raising myself, I saw it hovering near me.

The Hair Tree. 131

" Poor Trevina," he said mournfully, " you are
worse off now than you were before ; but keep a
good heart. You will some time recover your
proper form, I feel sure; but be sure you eat
nothing but herbs."

I thanked the sea-gull, and tried to feel more
cheerful ; but my case seemed a hard one, for
how was ever any man to come to this enchanted
ground ? And if any one did get so far, I knew
there must be great difficulty in getting the rods
from the Hair Tree.

You are the first man I have seen since I was
brought here ; and since that time I have lived on
grass and herbs. Every day have I wept afresh
at the thought that I should never again see my
dear home or my father and sisters ; and my joy,
therefore, on seeing you knew no bounds."

As she finished, the tigress turned on one side
to wipe away a tear, and Rupert was scarcely
less moved than she by the story of her mis-
fortunes.

" But how can I help you, poor Trevina ? " said
he, after a pause.

" Help me ! " cried the tigress, her eyes spark-
le 2

132 The Hair Tree.

ling with joy. " Are you not searching for the
Hair Tree, and do not the rods with which I am
to be beaten grow around it ? Dear, kind sailor,
you will surely not refuse to pick one and beat
me with it."

Rupert, of course, could not refuse to do as
she asked, but the thought of having to beat her
filled him with disgust. After a pause she arose,
and bade him do the same.

" Now," she said, " it is time for you to continue
your journey. I cannot go with you farther, but
you must continue straight ahead, turning neither
to the right nor left, and take the greatest care
you can of the zirbal nuts, for they are the best
protection you can have against every sort of
spell. You will find me here on your return,
but be sure you do not forget to bring with
you some of the rods which grow underneath
the Hair Tree."

Rupert promised, and said adieu, and went on
his way ; but he was so full of thoughts of poor
Trevina and her sorrows that he had almost for-
gotten the Queens hair and the reward, and was
more anxious to find the wonderful Hair Tree,
that he might beat the tigress with the rods he

The Hair Tree. 133

found there, than to gather the hair seeds for the

Queen.

As he went on he found the path growing

narrower and narrower, and the rocks on each

side grew larger and larger, and began to arch

over the top of the path, and to darken it. All

round the wind moaned piteously, and from far

off he could hear a sound like running water.

At last he came to a place where the rocks

blocked up the path, and in them he perceived

a small door. He pushed it open, and stepped

through into a long dark narrow passage, down

which he walked. Presently a faint light became

visible, and after a time he found himself in front

of a high wall, so high that he could not see to

the top, in which was a gate on which was written,

in letters of gold, —

" Only he who knows can enter here,
Yet only he can know, who enters without fear."

Then Rupert remembered what the bird had
said, and stood in front of the gate and said, —

" I know, I know;
Inside the wind doth blow,
Inside the waters flow ;
This makes the Hair Tree grow —
I know, I know."

134 The Hair Tree.

In a moment the door flew open, and Rupert
stepped inside and looked about him.

He found himself standing at the beginning
of a long flat tract of country, but for a moment
or two he was so dazzled by the light which
enveloped everything, that he could scarcely
see.

This light was quite unlike anything he had
ever seen ; it was of a pale clear green colour, and
as his eyes grew a little more used to it, he per-
ceived that it filled every nook and corner, and
the only shade anywhere was thrown by the
black rays of a black sun in the sky !

It was very strange. He rubbed his eyes and
looked again, but there it was sure enough. The
sun was coal black, and threw out long black rays,
while everywhere else was light.

A little in front was a black river flowing
around an island, in the centre of which was a
mound where grew a tree — such a tree ! At sight
of it Ruperts heart gave a great bound, and he
felt as if he would go mad with joy, for he knew
when he saw it he had come to the end of his
journey. On that tree grew no leaves, but it was
covered with soft fine hair, which grew from all

The Hair Tree. 135

its branches and fell in waves to the ground. He
could not see it very plainly, for the river was
wide ; but he saw that the island was covered with
plants of various kinds. He sat down on the
pebbly bank of the river, gazing across and
wondering if the water were deep, or how he
should manage to cross to the other side. While
he was sitting thinking, he put his hand into his
pocket and drew out a zirbal nut. Just as he was
looking at it, he heard a rippling of the water,
and perceived an immense swan swimming along
towards him. It was as large as a horse, and
brilliant yellow all over, with eyes of shining red
that shot out sparks of fire. Rupert sprang back
from the bank, for the swan appeared to be very
angry, and called out in an awful voice, —

" What man are you ? and what do you do
here so near the magic Hair Tree ? "

" My name is Rupert," said the sailor, trembling
in every limb, " and I mean no harm ; I only
wish to gather some of the seeds to bring back
the Queen's hair. I should be much obliged to
you if you will tell me how to get over the water,
and if its deep."

The swan did not answer, but its eyes were

136 The Hair Tree.

fixed on the nut in Rupert s hand, which it was
eyeing greedily.

" What have you there ? " it said, after a pause,
in a much quieter voice. " Surely that is a zirbal
nut. Dear me, it is two thousand years since I
tasted one. Give me a bit of that one."

" I am sure you are very welcome to it,"
Rupert was beginning, but he stopped himself
in time, and said instead, —

"If you will take me on your back across the
river, and wait for me and brin^ me back after I
have got some hair seeds, I will give you this one,
but on no other condition."

The swan stopped, and thought, and then said,
" Very well ; " and swimming close to the bank,
beckoned to Rupert to get on his back. He
obeyed, and the swan swam swiftly over the
water. As it approached the farther side, it
turned its long head and said, —

" Whatever you do, don't let the lip-flowers kiss
you. They are sure to ask to. But they won't
really want to kiss. They will only bite a piece
out of your cheek ; they are terribly greedy."

The sailor thanked the swan for its advice, and
sprang upon the mound. It was covered with

The Hair Tree. 137

plants bearing such flowers as man had never seen
before. Some of them were like mouths — soft red
lips folded over the whitest rows of shining teeth ;
and when Rupert struck one of them by chance,
they gave a loud angry cry, whilst all the others
burst into such weird laughter that he thought it
dreadful to hear. . But one and all, as he passed by
them, swayed their long stalks towards him, and
sai.d, " Let me give you a kiss — only one : let me
kiss your cheek." But he minded what the swan
had said, and, keeping carefully out of their reach,
turned to examine the other flowers. Some were
like delicate waxen ears, and these, with their
dark green leaves, he did not think at all ugly.
But the prettiest of all grew on long slender
stalks, and bent like lilies, and their flowers were
like human eyes. Big eyes, small eyes, blue
eyes, brown eyes, black eyes, hazel eyes, eyes with
long black lashes, eyes with scarcely any, eyes
with heavy lids — all sorts of eyes, all looking
curiously at him. He thought them so pretty
that he determined to gather some, and on coming
to a very beautiful bright blue eye, he put his
hand to the stalk to break it off, but thereupon it
wept such floods of tears that the sailor felt sorry

138 The Hair Tree.

for it, and left it glistening on its stem, whereat
all the lips burst into a chorus of shrill laughter.
But now he was nearing the wonderful Hair Tree,
and could think of nothing else. All round it
grew a double row of dark green plants, with
long stiff leaves, from whose centres grew tall
solid silver rods in the place where flowers should
be. These rods stood so near together that they
made quite a compact railing around the Hair
Tree, and it was impossible to get to it without
passing through their line.

Drawing close to them, the sailor examined
them carefully, to see where they could be
gathered, for doubtless these were the rods of
which Trevina spoke. They seemed to be
fastened into the plants with a sort of hinge,
and beneath this Rupert took hold of one to
break it off, but no sooner had he begun to pull,
than the rod, swinging on its joint, dealt him a
smart blow on the face, which made him stagger
back, and all the lip flowers laughed again.

" Oh ! zirbal nuts," he cried, taking one from his
pocket, " you have helped me before, help me
again." No sooner had he spoken than all the lips
cried out, " A nut, a nut — give us a nut ! "

The Hair Tree. 139

Then a beautiful rosy mouth, growing on a
very tall stalk, turned to the others and called,
" Silence ! " and bending towards Rupert said,
" Listen ; take out your penknife and cut that nut
in pieces, and give them to us, and we will bite
off some of the silver rods for you, so that you
can pass through to the Hair Tree."

Rupert agreed, and taking out his penknife
began to chop up the nut, whilst a number of
mouths turned themselves to the silver rods and
began to bite their stalks. It was vain for the
rods to slash about, they could not hurt the lip-
flowers, who went on steadily gnawing till half a
dozen rods lay on the ground, leaving a clear path
through to the Hair Tree.

'Rupert at once gave the pieces of nut to the
mouths (which opened greedily to receive them),
and walked up to the tree and stood beneath it.

What a wonderful tree it was ! The hair
rippled down from all its branches, and was of
all colours — black outside, and growing lighter
and lighter till, quite near the trunk, it was of fine
pure gold. Rupert took hold of it and passed it
through his fingers. How soft and thick it felt !
What would not the court ladies have given for

140 The Hair Tree.

even a tiny branch of it. Then he thought of
the Queers hair, and turned to look for the
seeds.

He found them in little pods growing close to
the branches, and at once tried to pull them off.
But he found that they grew on hairs so long and
thick that he had to take out his knife and cut
them, and even then it was a long time before he
could gather any quantity. At last he succeeded
in picking a handful, and, wrapping them carefully
in his handkerchief, placed them in his bosom.
When he turned to go, the eye-flowers had all
closed, and were evidently fast asleep ; the lips,
too, were shut and still, and said nothing as he
passed them. The black sun was fast sinking, and
the black rays had become longer and darker.
Rupert walked quickly down to where the yellow
swan was waiting, carrying the silver rods with
him.

" Make haste," said the swan ; " what a long
time youve been ! Its getting quite light, and I
want to go to sleep."

" To sleep ! " said the sailor, staring. " Why,
one goes to sleep when it gets dark, one wakes
when its light."

The Hair Tree. 141

" Does one ? " said the swan, scornfully.
" That would be very foolish ; where would be
the use of going to sleep, and shutting one's eyes
in the dark ? The dark never hurts any ones
eyes. Of course one shuts one s eyes when its
too light, and it would hurt one to keep them
open."

Rupert was silent, not knowing what to say,
and the swan swam with him quickly across the
water.

" Now," he said, as he landed him on the

other side, " give me my nut, and take my advice,

>

go away as quickly as you can. Its getting so
light that soon you won't be able to see anything
for the glare."

Rupert obeyed, and turned at once to go back,
for a dull glaring light was beginning to spread
everywhere as the black sun sank, and no sooner
had it disappeared than the light became so
intense that he could scarcely see, and had to
shade his eyes with his hands as he felt his way
to the door in the wall. This time no speech on
his part was necessary, for it stood wide open,
though it shut with a loud bang as soon as he had
passed through it. He walked as quickly as he

142 The Hair Tree.

could down the long dark passage, and out into
the broad daylight again, and there he sat down
to think over all the strange things he had seen.
He would have believed it all a dream, but for
the seeds in his bosom and the rods at his side.
And there, just as he had left them, were the long
rows of sunflowers with the beautiful faces look-
ing over their tops, and the white arms and hands
stretching out from their sides ; and then, after a
few minutes, he saw the tigress coming towards
him, walking very slowly, as if she had scarcely
strength to move, and looking very thin.

" At last you are come," she cried, when she saw
him ; " how long I have waited for you ! "

" Long ! " said Rupert, staring with surprise ;
" why, I have not been gone many hours."

" Hours ! " said the tigress, feebly ; " why, you
have been gone six months."

" Six months ! " cried Rupert, " and it has
seemed to me like two hours."

" But you have returned, and have brought the
rod with you," she said, joyfully. " So now all is
right. But I am very hungry, for I have not been
able to find any grass or herbs for a week. So
now make haste and beat me at once."

The Hair Tree. 143

" Beat you, you poor starved creature ! " cried
the sailor, looking pityingly at her ; " beat a poor
thing who has scarcely strength to crawl ! I
wouldn't do such a thing for the world ! "

" Beat me — beat me, I tell you," called the
tigress, writhing on the ground in front of him.
" Beat me at once, or it will be the worse for
both of us." Then she added, in a terrible voice,
" Did I not tell you I was very hungry ? Beat
me at once, or / shall eat you ! "

On hearing this, Rupert made no more ado,
but, seizing the silver rod, began to thrash the
tigress with all his might. She stood quite still
to receive his blows, only every now and then
urging him on by calling, —

" Harder! Beat harder ! "

Rupert obeyed, and continued to beat till he
saw that she was bleeding, and then, just as he
was going to fling aside the rod and declare
he would beat no longer, her skin began to
shrivel, and at last fell to the ground, and
there arose from it the loveliest maiden Rupert
had ever beheld. Her hair, of burning gold,
was worthy of the Hair Tree itself, whilst her
shining blue eyes and rosy lips were far more

144 The Hair Tree.

beautiful than the strange flowers that grew
about it.

Rupert stood still staring at her in wonder, but
she at once put out her hand and said, " How can
I thank you enough for what you have done for
me ? I am Trevina. Now let us hurry away
from this dreadful place as fast as we can, but
first give me a nut to protect me from spells."

Rupert at once gave her one, and as she
fastened it into the bosom of her dress, she
turned to him and asked with a smile, " Am I like
what you expected ? "

" You are far, far more beautiful," answered he ;
"is it really possible that you were that tigress ? "

" I was indeed that tigress," said Trevina, as
they began to walk quickly to the shore ; " and
should most likely have remained so but for you.
As it is, I shall not feel comfortable till we are off
, this dreadful island ; although the zirbal nuts are
the best protection we could have."

" Now, indeed, am I thankful that the Queen
lost her hair," cried Rupert, " since it has helped
me to set you free, lovely Tfevina."

They soon found the little boat, and getting into
it sailed away as fast as they could.

The Hair Tree. 145

After a little time Rupert remembered the bird
and his promise, and said to Trevina that he
supposed they should soon see him coming for
his nuts.

" You have just eight nuts left, and you have
promised the eagle six," said Trevina. " By all
means give him the six you promised him, but let
me entreat you to keep the remaining two. One
I have here, and be sure you do not let him have
the other. Remember that the moment you have
parted from it, he will have as much power over
you as he had over the poor Queen. He will
beg you for it, but he must not have it."

Rupert promised, and in a very short time they
saw the eagle flying towards them. He flew
round them in circles, and at last alighted on the
prow of the boat.

" Well," he said, fiercely, looking towards
Rupert, " I see you have the seeds. Now where
are my nuts ? "

" Here they are," said he, taking six from his
pocket, and giving them to him. He took them
in his claws and hid them in his feathers, but
still he did not go.

" You have yet got one more," he said ; " what

L

146 The Hair Tree.

are you going to do with it ? You do not eat
zirbal nuts."

" I mean to keep it as a curiosity," answered
the sailor.

" But what use will that be ? " croaked the bird ;
" will you not give it to me ? "

"No, I can't do that," said Rupert ; " you must
be content with what you've got."

"In my nest at home," said the eagle, " I have
seven little eaglets, and you have only given me
six nuts to take to them. Will you not give me
your other nut to take to my youngest little
eaglet ? "

On hearing this the sailor fingered the nut in his
pocket and looked at the bird, and was just going
to give it to him, when Trevina laid her hand on
his arm to stop him, and turning to the eagle
said, —

" It is no use your asking for the nut, for he
will not give it to you. I know quite well that
you have no little eaglets at home, that it is all
false, and that you only say it to get the nut
from him."

Then the eagle turned, and, giving one
fearful shriek, rose into the air and flew

The Hair Tree. 147

away, and Rupert and Trevina never saw him
more.

^^S ^^s ^^s ^^

A whole year had passed away since the Queen
had dreamt the strange dream, and still her
head was bald ; and no one could tell how to
make the hair grow again. Men had sought far
and wide. The King had sent messengers to
every part of the world. All sorts of strange
plants had been brought and stranger remedies
suggested. But it was quite evident that no one
had found the real Hair Tree.

The Queen had been ill for months, and now
scarcely ever appeared in public. At last, when
she had quite made up her mind that she would
never recover her hair, she sent for the King,
and told him that she was seriously thinking of
shutting herself up for the rest of her life, and
would only consent again to appear on the con-
dition that he should order that all the women in
the land should have their heads shaved and wear
caps just like hers. The King, in great conster-
nation, begged her to reconsider her decision, but
she was firm, and as he could not bear the
thought of parting with her, he at last consented

l 2

148 The Hair Tree.

to publish a proclamation ordering that all the
women in the country, from the greatest duchess
to the poorest beggar, were to have their heads
shaved, in order that the Queen might not be
annoyed by the sight of their hair.

Great was the anger and discontent with which
this order was received, but the people dared
not disobey the King, so after a great deal of
grumbling they agreed to submit in silence, and
a day was settled on which the shaving was to
take place, for the Queen wished it to be per-
formed in public.

At her suggestion the King had an immense
scaffold put up in the market-place, and on it
the court barber was to stand, whilst all the
women, from the highest to the lowest, came
before him in turn and had their heads shaved
quite close. State seats were erected on one
side, on which the King and Queen and court
would sit to watch the shaving.

When all this was settled, the Queen grew as
cheerful as possible. She said it was almost as
good as having her own hair back again.

The different messengers whom the King had
sent in search of the Hair Tree still kept return-

The Hair Tree. 149

ing, each one bringing with him some strange
new plant, but nothing that could do the Queen
any good ; and thus the time passed till the
shaving day came.

All the streets were hung with black, and the
chair in which the ladies were to sit to be
shaved was hung with black also.

Early in the morning a great crowd had
assembled, and then the King and Queen came
down and took seats, and the shaving was to
begin.

The crier took out his list of the ladies' names,
and called out the first, which was that of a
duchess who was quite young and very beau-
tiful. She rose slowly from her seat, sobbing
bitterly, and walked towards the black chair.

She was dressed in a long black serge dress,
without any ornament, but her beautiful white
neck and arms were bare, and over her shoulders
to her waist rippled her bright soft brown hair.
She looked so young and so miserable that there
was a general groan at the idea that all her
lovely locks must fall.

With a last sob, the duchess took her seat in
the dreadful chair, and, closing her eyes, resigned

150 The Hair 'Iree.

hmelf to her fate. The barber sharpened his
razor, and was just going to begin, whilst all held
their breath from excitement, when a voice was
heard crying " Stop /" And in a minute all saw a
nailor rushing towards the scaffold, panting and
out of breath, but holding out something in his
right hand,

"Sto//" he shouted, as loudly as he could,
directly he found breath to speak. " I have got
it the hair seeds from the real Hair Tree!"

On hearing this the barber flung away his
ra*or» and the Queen screamed outright

The courtiers and the King danced a jig for
joy* whilst the duchess who was to have been
shaved, threw her arms round the sailors neck,
and kissed him at once,

" Only try/ cried Rupert, eagerly, " before you
shave them ; they came from the Hair Tree* I
picked them myself/

Oa hearing this, the Queen, unable to contain
her impatience any longer, dashed through the
crowvi and* pushing the duchess on one side,
sprang into the black chair herself.

SN Theie is no time like the present* she cried,
pulttt^ off her muslin capv and dinging it to

The Hair Tree. 151

the ground, quite heedless of showing her bare
shining head to the crowd. " Put some on your-
self, dear sailor, and let us see how they do."

A thrill of excitement ran through the crowd,
whilst, amidst a dead silence, Rupert opened the
packet, and carefully and slowly sprinkled the
seeds over the Queen's bent head. In a
moment a soft fine down began to appear all
over it, growing thicker and darker every
moment, till it was curly hair, which grew longer
and longer as they watched it.

" How does it do ? " gasped the Queen. " My
head feels very queer. Is it growing?" But
she had little need to ask the question, for no
sooner were the words out of her mouth than
the soft curly locks, of her own old colour, fell
over her shoulders, and grew till they reached
her feet. At sight of them she shrieked with
joy, and fainted, whilst the King and courtiers
and all the crowd shouted and hurrahed as
if they had gone mad.

That night the city was illuminated, and there
was a great ball at the palace, and next day the
King and Queen and all the court went to
witness the wedding of Rupert and Trevina,

1 5 2

The Hair Tree.

after which the King presented Rupert with the
reward.

One of his remaining nuts Rupert gave to
the King to hang over the palace door, and
defend them from all charms of bad fairies ; but
the other he and Trevina always kept, which is
perhaps the reason they lived so happily together
all the rest of their lives.

A TOY PRINCESS.

| ORE than a thousand years
ago, in a country quite on the
other side of the world, it
fell out that the people all
grew so very polite that they
hardly ever spoke to each
other. And they never said more than was quite
necessary, as "Just so," "Yes indeed," "Thank
you," and " If you please." And it was thought
to be the rudest thing in the world for any
one to say they liked or disliked, or loved or
hated, or were happy or miserable. No one
ever laughed aloud, and if any one had been
seen to cry they would at once have been
avoided by their friends.

154 A Toy Princess.

The King of this country married a Princess
from a neighbouring land, who was very good
and beautiful, but the people in her own home
were as unlike her husbands people as it was
possible to be. They laughed, and talked, and
were noisy and merry when they were happy,
and cried and lamented if they were sad. In
fact, whatever they felt they showed at once, and
the Princess was just like them.

So when she came to her new home, she
could not at all understand her subjects, or make
out why there was no shouting and cheering
to welcome her, and why every one was so
distant and formal. After a time, when she
found they never changed, but were always
the same, just as stiff and quiet, she wept, and
began to pine for her own old home.

Every day she grew thinner and paler. The
courtiers were much too polite to notice how ill
their young Queen looked ; but she knew it
herself, and believed she was going to die.

Now she had a fairy godmother, named
Taboret, whom she loved very dearly, and who
was always kind to her. When she knew her
end was drawing near she sent for her god-

A Toy Princess. 155

mother, and when she came had a long talk with
her quite alone.

No one knew what was said, and soon after-
wards a little Princess was born, and the Queen
died. Of course all the courtiers were sorry for
the poor Queens death, but it would have been
thought rude to say so. So, although there was
a grand funeral, and the court put on mourning,
everything else went on much as it had done
before.

The little baby was christened Ursula, and
given to some court ladies to be taken charge of.
Poor little Princess ! She cried hard enough, and
nothing could stop her.

All her ladies were frightened, and said that
they had not heard such a dreadful noise for a
long time. But, till she was about two years old,
nothing could stop her crying when she was cold
or hungry, or crowing when she was pleased.

After that she began to understand a little
what was meant when her nurses told her, in cold,
polite tones, that she was being naughty, and
she grew much quieter.

She was a pretty little girl, with a round baby
face and big merry blue eyes ; but as she grew

156 A Toy Princess.

older, her eyes grew less and less merry and bright,
and her fat little face grew thin and pale. She was
not allowed to play with any other children, lest
she might learn bad manners ; and she was not
taught any garnet or given any toys. So she
passed most of her time, when she was not at her
lessons, looking out of the window at the birds
flying against the clear blue sky ; and sometimes
she would give a sad little sigh when her ladies
were not listening.

One day the old fairy Taboret made herself
invisible, and flew over to the King's palace to
see how things were going on there. She went
straight up to the nursery, where she found poor
little Ursula sitting by the window, with her head
leaning on her hand-
It was a very grand room, but there were no
toys or dolls about, and when the fairy saw
this, she frowned to herself and shook her
head.

" Your Royal Highness's dinner is now ready,"
said the head nurse to Ursula.

" I don't want any dinner," said Ursula, without
turning her head.

" I think I have told your Royal Highness

A Toy Princess. 157

before that it is not polite to say you don't want
anything, or that you don't like it," said the
nurse. " We are waiting for your Royal High-
ness."

So the Princess got up and went to the dinner-
table, and Taboret watched them all the time.
When she saw how pale little Ursula was, and
how little she ate, and that there was no talking
or laughing allowed, she sighed and frowned even
more than before, and then she flew back to her
fairy home, where she sat for some hours in deep
thought.

At last she rose, and. went out to pay a visit to
the largest shop in Fairyland.

It was a queer sort of shop. It was neither a
grocer's, nor a draper's, nor a hatters. Yet it
contained sugar, and dresses, and hats. But the
sugar was magic sugar, which transformed any
liquid into which it was put ; the dresses each
had some special charm, and the hats were wish-
ing-caps. It was, in fact, a shop where every
sort of spell or charm was sold.

Into this shop Taboret flew; and as she was
well known there as a good customer, the master
of the shop came forward to meet her at once,

158 A Toy Princess.

and bowing, begged to know what he could get
for her.

" I want," said Taboret, " a Princess. "

" A Princess ! " said the shopman, who was in
reality an old wizard. " What size do you want
it ? I have one or two in stock."

" It must look now about six years old. But
it must grow."

" I can make you one," said the wizard, " but
it'll come rather expensive."

" I don't mind that," said Taboret. " See ! I
want it to look exactly like this," and so saying
she took a portrait of Ursula out of her bosom
and gave it to the old man, who examined it
carefully.

" 111 get it for you," he said. "When will you
want it ? "

" As soon as possible," said Taboret. " By
to-morrow evening if possible. How much will
it cost ?"

" It'll come to a good deal," said the wizard,
thoughtfully. " I have such difficulty in getting
these things properly made in these days. What
sort of a voice is it to have ?"

" It need not be at all talkative," said Taboret,

A Toy Princess. 159

" so that won't add much to the price. It need
only say, ' If you please/ ' No, thank you/ ' Cer-
tainly/ and ' Just so.'"

"Well, under those circumstances," said the
wizard, " I will do it for four cat's footfalls, two
fish's screams, and two swans songs."

"It is too much," cried Taboret. " I'll give
you the footfalls and the screams, but to ask for
swans' songs !"

She did not really think it dear, but she
always made a point of trying to beat tradesmen
down.

" I can't do it for less/' said the wizard, " and if
you think it too much, you'd better try another
shop."

" As I am really in a hurry for it, and cannot
spend time in searching about, I suppose I must
have it," said Taboret ; " but I consider the price
very high. When will it be ready ?"

" By to-morrow evening."

" Very well, then, be sure it is ready for me by
the time I call for it, and whatever you do, don't
make it at all noisy or rough in its ways ; " and
Taboret swept out of the shop and returned to
her home.

160 A Toy Princess.

Next evening she returned and asked if her
job was done.

" I will fetch it, and I am sure you will like it,"
said the wizard, leaving the shop as he spoke.
Presently he came back, leading by the hand a
pretty little girl of about six years old — a little
girl so like the Princess Ursula that no one could
have told them apart.

" Well," said Taboret, " it looks well enough.
But are you sure that it's a good piece of work-
manship, and won't give way anywhere ?"

" It's as good a piece of work as ever was
done," said the wizard, proudly, striking the child
on the back as he spoke, " Look at it ! Examine
it all over, and see if you find a flaw anywhere.
There's not one fairy in twenty who could tell it
from the real thing, and no mortal could."

"It seems to be fairly made," said Taboret,
approvingly, as she turned the little girl round.
" Now I'll pay you, and then will be off;" with
which she raised her wand in the air and waved
it three times, and there arose a series of strange
sounds.

The first was a low tramping, the second
shrill and piercing screams, the third voices of

A Toy Princess. 161

wonderful beauty, singing a very sorrowful
song.

The wizard caught all the sounds and pocketed
them at once, and Taboret,, without ceremony,
picked up the child, took her head downwards
under her arm, and flew away.

At court that night the little Princess had been
naughty, and had refused to go to bed. It was a
long time before her ladies could get her into her
crib, and when she was there, she did not really
go to sleep, only lay still and pretended, till
every one went away ; then she got up and stole
noiselessly to the window, and sat down on the
window-seat all curled up in a little bunch, while
she looked out wistfully at the moon. She was
such a pretty soft little thing, with all her warm
bright hair falling over her shoulders, that it
would have been hard for most people to be
angry with her. She leaned her chin on her tiny
white hands, and as she gazed out, the tears rose
to her great blue eyes ; but remembering that her
ladies would call this naughty, she wiped them
hastily away with her nightgown sleeve.

" Ah moon, pretty bright moon ! " she said to
herself, " I wonder if they let you cry when you

M

1 62 A Toy Princess.

want to. I think I'd like to go up there and live with
you ; I'm sure it would be nicer than being here."

" Would you like to go away with me ? " said a
voice close beside her ; and looking up she saw a
funny old woman in a red cloak, standing near to
her. She was not frightened, for the old woman
had a kind smile and bright black eyes, though
her nose was hooked and her chin long.

" Where would you take me ? " said the little
Princess, sucking her thumb, and staring with all
her might.

" I'd take you to the sea-shore, where you'd be
able to play about on the sands, and where you'd
have some little boys and girls to play with, and
no one to tell you not to make a noise."

" 111 go," cried Ursula, springing up at once.

" Come along," said the old woman, taking her
tenderly in her arms and folding her in her warm
red cloak. Then they rose up in the air, and
flew out of the window, right away over the tops
of the houses.

The night air was sharp, and Ursula soon fell
asleep ; but still they kept flying on, on, over hill
and dale, for miles and miles, away from the
palace, towards the sea.

A Toy Princess. 163

Far away from the court and the palace, in a
tiny fishing village, on the sea, was a little hut
where a fisherman named Mark lived with his
wife and three children. He was a poor man,
and lived on the fish he caught in his little boat.
The children, Oliver, Philip, and little Bell, were
rosy-cheeked and bright-eyed. They played all
day long on the shore, and shouted till they were
hoarse. To this village the fairy bore the still
sleeping Ursula, and gently placed her on the
door-step of Mark's cottage ; then she kissed her
cheeks, and with one gust blew the door open, "
and disappeared before any one could come to see
who it was.

The fisherman and his wife were sitting quietly
within. She was making the children clothes, and
he was mending his net, when without any noise
the door opened and the cold night air blew in.

" Wife," said the fisherman, "just see who's at
the door."

The wife got up and went to the door, and
there lay Ursula, still sleeping soundly, in her little
white nightdress.

The woman gave a little scream at sight of the
child, and called to her husband.

m 2

164 A Toy Princess.

" Husband, see, here's a little girl ! " and so
saying she lifted her in her arms, and carried her
into the cottage. When she was brought into the
warmth and light, Ursula awoke, and sitting up,
stared about her in fright. She did not cry, as
another child might have done, but she trembled
very much, and was almost too frightened to
speak.

Oddly enough, she had forgotten all about her
strange flight through the air, and could remember
nothing to tell the fisherman and his wife, but
that she was the Princess Ursula ; and, on hearing
this, the good man and woman thought the poor
little girl must be a trifle mad. However, when
they examined her little nightdress, made of
white fine linen and embroidery, with a crown
worked in one corner, they agreed that she must
belong . to very grand people. They said it
would be cruel to send the poor little thing away
on such a cold night, and they must of course
keep her till she was claimed. So the woman
gave her some warm bread-and-milk, and put her
to bed with their own little girl.

In the morning, when the court ladies came to
wake Princess Ursula, they found her sleeping as

A Toy Princess. 165

usual in her little bed, and little did they think it
was not she, but a toy Princess placed there in
her stead. Indeed the ladies were much pleased ;
for when they said, "It is time for your Royal
Highness to arise," she only answered, " Certainly,"
and let herself be dressed without another word.
And as the time passed, and she was nevef
naughty, and scarcely ever spoke, all said she was
vastly improved, and she grew to be a great
favourite.

The ladies all said that the young Princess bid
fair to have the most elegant manners in the
country, and the King smiled and noticed her with
pleasure.

In the meantime, in the fisherman's cottage far
away, the real Ursula grew tall and straight as an
alder, and merry and light-hearted as a bird.

No one came to claim her, so the good fisher-
man and his wife kept her and brought her up
among their own little ones. She played with
them on the beach, and learned her lessons with
them at school, and her old life had become like
a dream she barely remembered.

But sometimes the mother would take out the
little embroidered nightgown and show it to her,

1 66 A Toy Princess.

and wonder whence she came, and to whom she
belonged.

" I don't care who I belong to," said Ursula ;
"they won't come and take me from you, and
that's all I care about" So she grew tall and
fair, and as she grew, the toy Princess, in her
place at the court, grew too, and always was just
like her, only that whereas Ursula's face was
sunburnt and her cheeks red, the face of the
toy Princess was pale, with only a very slight
tint in her cheeks.

Years passed, and Ursula at the cottage was a
tall young woman, and Ursula at the court was
thought to be the most beautiful there, and every
one admired her manners, though she never said
anything but "If you please," " No, thank you,"
" Certainly," and " Just so."

The King was now an old man, and the
fisherman Mark and his wife were grey-headed.
Most of their fishing was now done by their
eldest son, Oliver, who was their great pride.
Ursula waited on them, and cleaned the house,
and did the needlework, and was so useful that
they cpuld not have done without her. The
fairy Taboret had come to the cottage from time

A Toy Princess. 167

to time, unseen by any one, to see Ursula, and
always finding her healthy and merry, was
pleased to think of how she had saved her from
a dreadful life. But one evening when she paid
them a visit, not having been there for some time,
she saw something which made her pause and
consider. Oliver and Ursula were standing
together watching the waves, and Taboret stopped
to hear what they said, —

" When we are married," said Oliver, softly,
"we will live in that little cottage yonder, so
that we can come and see them every day. But
that will not be till little Bell is old enough to
take your place, for how would my mother do
without you ? "

" And we had better not tell them," said Ursula,
" that we mean to marry, or else the thought
that they are preventing us will make them
unhappy."

When Taboret heard this she became grave,
and pondered for a long time. At last she flew
back to the court to see how things were going
on there. She found the King in the middle of
a state council. On seeing this, she at once made
herself visible, when the King begged her to be

1 68 A Toy Princess.

seated near him, as he was always glad of her
help and advice.

"You find us," said his Majesty, "just about
to resign our sceptre into younger and more
vigorous hands ; in fact, we think we are growing
too old to reign, and mean to abdicate in favour
of our dear daughter, who will reign in our
stead."

" Before you do any such thing," said Taboret,
"just let me have a little private conversation
with you ;" and she led the King into a corner,
much to his surprise and alarm.

In about half an hour he returned to the
council, looking very white, and with a dreadful
expression on his face, whilst he held a hand-
kerchief to his eyes.

"My lords," he faltered, " pray pardon our
apparently extraordinary behaviour. We have
just received a dreadful blow ; we hear on
authority, which we cannot doubt, that our dear,
dear daughter " — here sobs choked his voice, and
he was almost unable to proceed — " is — is — in fact,
not our daughter at all, and only a sham!' Here
the King sank back in his chair, overpowered
with grief, and the fairy Taboret, stepping to

A Toy Princess. 169

the front, told the courtiers the whole story;
how she had stolen the real Princess, because
she feared they were spoiling her, and how she
had placed a toy Princess in her place. The
courtiers looked from one to another in surprise,
but it was evident they did not believe her.

" The Princess is a truly charming young lady,"
said the Prime Minister.

" Has your Majesty any reason to complain of
her Royal Highness's conduct?" asked the old
Chancellor.

" None whatever," sobbed the King ; " she was
ever an excellent daughter."

" Then I don't see," said the Chancellor, " what
reason your Majesty can have for paying any
attention to what this — this person says."

"If you don't believe me, you old idiots," cried
Taboret, " call the Princess here, and I'll soon
prove my words."

" By all means," cried they.

So the King commanded that her Royal High-
ness should be summoned.

In a few minutes she came, attended by
her ladies. She said nothing, but then she
never did speak till she was spoken to. So she

170 A Toy Princess.

entered, and stood in the middle of the room
silently.

"We have desired that your presence be re-
quested," the King was beginning, but Taboret
without any ceremony advanced towards her, and
struck her lightly on the head with her wand.
In a moment the head rolled on the floor,
leaving the body standing motionless as before,
and showing that it was but an empty shell. " Just
so," said the head, as it rolled towards the King,
and he and the courtiers nearly swooned with
fear.

When they were a little recovered, the King
spoke again. " The fairy tells me," he said,
" that there is somewhere a real Princess whom
she wishes us to adopt as our daughter. And
in the meantime let her Royal Highness be care-
fully placed in a cupboard, and a general mourn-
ing be proclaimed for this dire event."

So saying he glanced tenderly at the body and
head, and turned weeping away.

So it was settled that Taboret was to fetch
Princess Ursula, and the King and council were
to be assembled to meet her.

That evening the fairy flew to Mark's cottage,

A Toy Princess. 171

and told them the whole truth about Ursula, and
that they must part from her.

Loud were their lamentations, and great their
grief, when they heard she must leave them.
Poor Ursula herself sobbed bitterly.

" Never mind," she cried after a time, " if I
am really a great Princess, I will have you all
to live with me. I am sure the King, my father,
will wish it, when he hears how good you have all
been to me."

On the appointed day, Taboret came for Ursula
in a grand coach and four, and drove her away to
the court. It was a long, long drive ; and she
stopped on the way and had the Princess
dressed in a splendid white silk dress trimmed
with gold, and put pearls round her neck and
in her hair, that she might appear properly at
court.

The King and all the council were assembled
with great pomp, to greet their new Princess,
and all looked grave and anxious. At last the
door opened, and Taboret appeared, leading the
young girl by the hand.

"That is your father !" said she to Ursula,
pointing to the King ; and on this, Ursula, needing

172 A Toy Princess.

no other bidding, ran at once to him, and
putting her arms round his neck, gave him a
sounding kiss.

His Majesty almost swooned, and all the
courtiers shut their eyes and shivered.

" This is really ! " said one.

" This is truly ! " said another.

" What have I done ? " cried Ursula, looking
from one to another, and seeing that something
was wrong, but not knowing what. " Have I
kissed the wrong person ?" On hearing which
every one groaned.

" Come now," cried Taboret, " if you don't
like her, I shall take her away to those who do.
I'll give you a week, and then Til come back and
see how you're treating her. She's a great deal
too good for any of you." So saying she flew away
on her wand, leaving Ursula to get on with her
new friends as best she might. But Ursula could
not get on with them at all, as she soon began
to see.

If she spoke or moved they looked shocked,
and at last she was so frightened and troubled by
them that she burst into tears, at which they were
more shocked still.

A Toy Princess. 173

"This is indeed a change after our sweet
Princess," said one lady to another.

"Yes, indeed," was the answer, "when one
remembers how even after her head was struck
off she behaved so beautifully, and only said,
' Just so/ "

And all the ladies disliked poor Ursula, and
soon showed her their dislike. Before the end
of the week, when Taboret was to return, she
had grown quite thin and pale, and seemed
afraid of speaking above a whisper.

" Why, what is wrong ? " cried Taboret, when
she returned and saw how much poor Ursula had
changed. " Don't you like being here ? Aren't
they kind to you ? "

" Take me back, dear Taboret," cried Ursula,
weeping. " Take me back to Oliver, and
Philip, and Bell. As for these people, I hate
them."

And she wept again.

Taboret only smiled and patted her head, and
then went into the King and courtiers.

" Now, how is it," she cried, " I find the
Princess Ursula in tears? and I am sure you
are making her unhappy. When you had that

174 <d Toy Princess.

bit of wood-and-leather Princess, you could
behave well enough to it, but now that you
have a real flesh-and-blood woman, you none
of you care for her."

" Our late dear daughter " began the King,

when the fairy interrupted him.

" I do believe," she said, " that you would like
to have the doll back again. Now I will give
you your choice. Which will you have — my
Princess Ursula, the real one, or your Princess
Ursula, the sham ? "

The King sank back into his chair. " I am
not equal to this," he said : " summon the council,
and let them settle it by vote." So the council
were summoned, and the fairy explained to them
why they were wanted.

" Let both Princesses be fetched," she said ; and
the toy Princess was brought in with great care
from her cupboard, and her head stood on the
table beside her, and the real Princess came in
with her eyes still red from crying and her bosom
heaving.

" I should think there could be no doubt which
one would prefer," said the Prime Minister to the
Chancellor.

A Toy Princess. 175

" I should think not either," answered the
Chancellor.

" Then vote," said Taboret ; and they all
voted, and every vote was for the sham Ursula,
and not one for the real . one. Taboret only
laughed.

" You are a pack of sillies and idiots," she said,
" but you shall have what you want ;" and she
picked up the head, and with a wave of her wand
stuck it on to the, body, and it moved round
slowly and said, " Certainly," just in its old voice ;
and on hearing this, all the courtiers gave
something as like a cheer as they thought
polite, whilst the old King could not speak
for joy.

" We will," he cried, " at once make our ar-
rangements for abdicating and leaving the govern-
ment in the hands of our dear daughter ; "
and on hearing this the courtiers all applauded
again.

But Taboret laughed scornfully, and taking up
the real Ursula in her arms, flew back with her
to Mark's cottage.

In the evening the city was illuminated, and
there were great rejoicings at the recovery of the

176

A Toy Princess.

Princess, but Ursula remained in the cottage and
married Oliver, and lived happily with him for
the rest of her life.

THROUGH THE FIRE.

■ ITTLE Jack sat alone by the
fire, watching it sadly. He was
seven years pld, but so small
and pale that he looked little
more than five, for he was a cripple, He had no
brothers or sisters, and he was nearly always
alone, for his mother, who was a widow, went
out all day to teach music, and often in the
evening also to play dance-music at children's
parties. They lived on the third floor of a
small house in a dull old street in London, and
Jack spent nearly all day in the little lonely
sitting-room by himself, sitting by the fire. To-

178 Through the Fire.

night he felt sadder than usual, for it was
Christmas-eve, and his mother had gone to a
child's party at a grand house, and she had said
that there would most likely be a Christmas-tree
there, with presents on it for all the little boys
and girls, and Jack thought it very hard that when
other children had so much more pleasure than
he, they must even rob him of his own mother.

If she were at home she would sit by him on
the hearthrug and take his head in her lap and
tell him long, long stories of giants and fairies.
Generally he liked her to go to parties, for, where-
ever it was, she never forgot to bring him some-
thing from the supper-table ; no matter how little
a thing it might be, only a cracker or a single
sweet, but he was sure to find something waiting
for him on his pillow when he woke in the
morning ; and, indeed, sometimes there had been
quite a nice little parcel of sweets and crackers
and dried fruits sent to him by the mistress of the
house or some of the children, when his mother
had dared to ask if she might take something to
her little boy at home.

But to-night he wanted his mother herself, and
did not care for anything she would bring him in

Through the Fire. 179

the morning. He sat and thought till the tears
rose to his eyes, and he sobbed outright.

" It's a shame," he said, " a dreadful shame. I
think it's too bad ; " and he seized the poker, and
gave the fire a great dig.

" For pity's sake, don't do that again," said a

small voice from the flames ; " it's enough to
break one to bits."

Jack stopped crying and looked into the fire.
There he saw a little figure, the strangest he had
ever beheld, balancing itself skilfully on the top
of a piece of burning coal. It was just like
a little man, not more than three inches high,
dressed from head to foot in orange-scarlet, the
colour of flame, and wearing on his head a long
pointed cap of the same colour.

" Who are you ? " asked Jack, breathlessly.

" Don't you know that it's rude to ask
questions ? " said the mannikin, winking one eye.
" However, if you very much want to know, I'm
a fire- fairy."

" A fire-fairy ! " repeated Jack, still staring and
breathless.

" Yes ; is that so very strange ? "

" But I don't believe in fairies," said Jack,

N 2

180 Through the Fire.

unable to remove his eyes from the weird little
figure.

The little man laughed.

" That doesn't make any difference to me," he
said. " Perhaps you don't believe in wind-fairies
or water-fairies either. But you'd never have a
fire but for us ; we light them, and keep them in.
If I were to go away now, your fire would be out
in an instant, and you might blow and blow it as
much as you liked ; it would be all no use, unless
one of us were to come back and put the light
into the coals."

" But how is it you don't get burnt up ? " asked
Jack.

" Burnt up ! " said the little man, scornfully ;
" why, we breathe fire and live in it ; we should
go out at once if we weren't surrounded by it."

" Go out ! What do you mean by going out.
Do you mean that you'd die ? "

" I don't know about dying," said the little
man, " but of course, without care, one is liable
to go out. But don't let's talk of unpleasant
subjects."

" But do you mean that you live for ever ? "
asked Jack.

Through the Fire. 181

" With proper care there is no reason why one
should go out after one is three hundred years
old," said the little man, settling himself comfort-
ably into a corner of burning coals. " Before that
age we are very delicate, and the least wind is
dangerous."

" But where do you live — where do you come
from ? " asked Jack.

" We live in the very middle of the earth,
where there is always a nice comfortable fire ;
but when you have fires alight up here, we have
to come up and attend to them."

" Then do you come to lamps and candles as
well ? " said Jack, " for they are fire."

" We leave that to the young folks," said the
little man, with a yawn ; " I never come up for
anything less than a coal fire."

Jack was silent for a little ; then he said, —

" I wonder I never saw you before."

" I have always been there ; so it has been
only your own stupidity," said the gnome.

" I wish I could get into the fire with you,"
said Jack ; " I should so much like to see what
it's like."

" You couldn't come without a proper dress,"

1 82 Through the Fire.

said the tiny man, " and even then I am afraid
you'd find it warm."

" I shouldn't mind that," said Jack. " And in
your own home, where you live, is it quite red
and bright, like the middle of a fire ? "

" It's a great deal better. Ah, that is worth
seeing ! " said the fairy, thrusting one arm over a
burning coal, and skilfully balancing himself in
a little jet of flame. " All round the palace where
our King lives there's flame — flame — nothing but
flame for miles, and the Princess's windows look
on to burning hills. Ah, what a pity it is people
are so discontented ! If there is any one who
ought to be happy, it's the Princess Pyra."

" Isn't she happy ?" asked Jack.

" Don't be so inquisitive. She might be, if she
liked."

" Then why isn't she ? "

"It all came of sending her to school," said the
little man, gravely. "If she'd never left her
father's palace she would never have seen him.
You must know that our King and Queen have
only one daughter, Princess Pyra, and of course
they are very proud of her, and wished her to
make a good match. A fire King, whose

Through the Fire. 183

country is close to ours, proposed for her, and her
father and mother settled that they would accept
him ; but as she was very young, and they wished
her to be well educated, they sent her to school
for a year in a burning mountain, thinking it
would give her a chance of seeing more of the
world than if she always remained at home. But,
as it turned out, it was a great mistake, for one
day the water King's son, Prince Fluvius, came
and looked over the top of the mountain, and
saw our Princess ; and they fell in love with each
other, and the Princess has never been happy

since."

" Why can't they be married ? " asked Jack.

•

The little man burst into a roar of laughter.

" Why, you ought to know that its impossible.
In the first place, they can't go near each other,
lest he should be dried up, or she should be put
out. Besides which, our King would never hear
of such a thing, as the water King is his bitterest
enemy. Every evening after she first saw him,
the Princess used to come to the top of the moun-
tain, and the Prince came and sat a little way off,
and then they talked together. Ah ! the King
little thought what mischief was brewing. But

184 Through the Fire.

when he discovered her one evening, when he
came to see her, sitting talking to Prince Fluvius,
he was in a rage. He took her home at once,
and was anxious to marry her to the fire Prince
out of hand. But she grew so thin that the
doctors said they feared if she were much excited
she would go out altogether. It's a great pity she
should be so silly/'

"Is she pretty ? " asked Jack.

" Pretty ? Pretty's no word for her. She is
lovely — beautiful ! She is much the loveliest
woman in Fireland, and she's wonderfully clever
as well."

" Little man," said Jack, coaxingly, " take me
with you, and show me your home. I would
never tell any one, and it's so dull here. Do let
me go with you."

" I don't see how it can be done," answered the
little man. " Besides, you'd be frightened."

" I wouldn't, I wouldn't, indeed," said Jack.
" Only try me, and see."

" Wait a minute, then ; " and the little red figure
disappeared into the brightest part of the fire.
In a few seconds he appeared again, carrying a
little red cap, and suit, and boots.

Through the Fire. 185

" Put on these," he said, throwing them into
Jack's lap.

" How ever shall I get them on ? Why, they re
not as long as my arm." But no sooner had he
touched them than he found himself growing
smaller and smaller, until the clothes seemed quite
the right size for him, and he easily slipped into
them.

" Now take this," said the red man, and threw
him a thin shining glass mask. Jack drew it
over his face. It fitted exactly, and left no
openings.

" Now," said the fire-man, " climb over the bars,
and see how you like it."

Jack scrambled over the fender, and helping
himself with the fire-irons, climbed on to the first
bar. The red man leant down, and gave him his
hand to help him. What a hot hand it was ! It
burnt like flame. Jack felt inclined to drop it,
but he was afraid of seeming impolite, so he
bit his lips, to prevent himself screaming, and
scrambled over the bars right into the midst of
the fire.

On looking round, he thought he was in a new
world. He stood in the middle of rich, red-

1 86 Through the Fire.

glowing hills, from which sprouted jets of flame,
like trees. Here and there was a black mountain,
which smoked and hissjed most alarmingly. But
how hot it was ! At first Jack felt as if he were
going to faint, and could not breathe.

" Well," said the red man, who now seemed
to Jack quite full-size, " how do you feel
now ? "

" Its warm," murmured poor Jack.

"If you can't bear this, you won't be able to
stand Fireland. Better not come any farther,"
said the fairy.

" I'm all right," said Jack, making an effort "I
daresay soon I shall feel quite used to it. How
does one get to Fireland ? "

" 111 show you," said the man, taking a thin
piece of stick from his pocket. This he took in
both hands, and dug into the coal beneath his feet
till he had made a good-sized hole. Then he
took from his pocket some little marbles, and
dropped them one by one into the hole, which
gradually began to grow larger and larger, until it
was an immense black gulf in the coal in front of
him.

" Now come along," said the red man, sitting on

Through the Fire. 187

the edge, with his legs swinging over. " Get on
to my shoulders, and put your legs round my
neck, and give me your hands, and I'll take you
quite safely. Only don't scream or call out, or I
shall drop you."

Jack did as he was bid, and seated himself
firmly on his companions shoulders, holding on
round his neck. He could not help feeling
frightened when, without a word, his guide sprang
into the hole, and began to fly through the dark-
ness so fast that he felt giddy. They went down
— down— down. It was pitch dark, and poor
Jack felt quite sick with the quick motion. He
would have called out for them to stop, only he
feared that the red man would keep his threat of
letting him fall.

At last, a long way beneath them, he saw a
faint red light, growing larger and brighter every
moment.

" There's Fireland," said his guide, stopping for
a minute, " and we shall be there in a few seconds
now." And on they went again quicker than
before towards the light, which now grew so
brilliant that Jack could scarcely bear to look
at it.

1 88 Through the Fire.

" Here we are ! " said the little man, as they
passed from the darkness into the light through
a kind of archway. Then he quietly shook Jack
from his shoulders on to the ground, and sat
down to rest beside him. When he had a little
recovered from his giddiness and fright, Jack
raised himself, and looked about him. It was
quite as strange as the fire had seemed to him.
There were great hills, and they were of every
shade of red and orange, some pale, some bright,
and on the hill-sides were lakes of fire. The
sky was one mass of flame, and many of the hills
smoked.

" Well, what do you think of it ? " asked the
fire-fairy.

" It's certainly very odd," said Jack, fearful of
saying what he really thought, lest he might be
thought rude. " But where do you live ? I don't
see any houses."

" The towns are farther. If you want to see
them, you must get on my shoulders again,"
said Jack's friend, taking him again on his back
as he spoke.

On they went again, passing over the ground
so quickly that Jack could not see half enough

Through the Fire. 189

of the strange country through which they
passed.

At last they came in sight of a large city, with
tall spires and bridges, and a little way out of it
stood a palace made of red-hot iron, and glisten-
ing with precious stones.

" That's the Kings palace," said the fire-man ;
" and as it's the thing most worth seeing in the
whole place, we'd better go there first."

" Shall I see the Princess ?" asked Jack, eagerly.

" Most likely she'll be in the garden, and then
you can see her as much as you like."

They stopped in front of the garden gate, and
the fire-fairy, pushing it open, told Jack he
could go in, but he must not make a noise. It
was the queerest palace and garden. Jack now
saw that what he had at first supposed to
be precious stones was nothing but different-
coloured fire, spouting out all over the palace.
There was blue fire, and red fire, and green fire,
and yellow fire, shining against the palace walls
just like jewels.

At first Jack thought that the garden was full
of beautiful flowers, but when he drew near to
them he saw that they were only fireworks in

•1

190 Through the Fire.

the forms of flowers. There was every sort
of catherine-wheel turning round as fast as
possible, throwing off sparks ; and every now and
then a brilliant rocket went up into the air, and
fell in shining stars.

Jack ran from one thing to the. other, examin-
ing it with delight, when his companion, seizing
his arm, drew him on one side, saying, "The
Princess ! " and pointed to where a group of
ladies were coming slowly down the path. In
their midst walked the Princess, who, Jack thought,
was the most beautiful lady he had ever seen.

Her long bright golden hair fell almost to her
feet. Her face was very pale, and she walked
very slowly and kept her eyes on the ground,
with a very sad expression.

She wore a shining flame-coloured dress, with a
long train, and one pale blue and silver catherine-
wheel fixed in her bosom, and another in her
hair.

She was surrounded by beautifully dressed
ladies, but none so lovely as she ; only Jack
wished she did not look so very sad. The
ladies all talked together, but the Princess never
said a word.

Through the Fire. 191

" Your Royal Highness should not walk too
fast," said one.

" Had not your Royal Highness better sit
down ? " said another.

"Will your Royal Highness not return to the
palace ? " asked a third. But the Princess only
shook her head in silence, and walked on as before.

Then Jack, seeing her so beautiful, and so un-
happy, could contain himself no longer, but burst
out, —

" Oh, poor Princess ! how sorry I am for you !"

At this the Princess raised her eyes for the
first time. Such bright eyes they were, shining
just like stars, Jack could not bear to look at
them, but had to turn his own another way.

" Who spoke ? " said the Princess, in a low, sad
voice. " Which of you spoke ? "

The ladies said nothing, but looked at each
other in surprise.

" Some one said she was sorry for me, and I
am sure you need not mind my knowing which of
you it was," continued the Princess, beginning to
sob, only, instead of tears, sparks fell from her eyes.

Here all the ladies drew about her, and tried to
soothe her.

192 Through the Fire.

" You know," said one, " that the doctors said
that, whatever happened, your Royal Highness
was not to excite yourself, or the consequences
might be fatal."

" Pray be calm, your Royal Highness," said
another. " You will really make yourself seriously
ill if you go on in this way."

" But who spoke ?" asked the Princess again.
" I think it very unkind of you all not to tell me.
It's the first time I have heard a kind voice since
I left school."

At this Jack could keep silence no longer, and,
despite the red fire-man, who did his best to hold
him back, he strode in front of the Princess, and
said, —

"If you please, your Royal Highness, it
was I."

" You ! And who are you ? " asked the Princess,
kindly.

^ I'm a little boy, and my name is Jack."

" How did you come here ?"

" I came with him," said Jack, pointing to the
red fire-man. " And you must not be angry with
him, for I made him bring me."

" I am not the least angry, either with him or

Through the Fire. 193

you," said the Princess, very graciously. " But I
want to know why you said you pitied me."

" Because you look so unhappy, and I think its
very sad for you to be parted from your Prince,"
said Jack.

Here all the ladies crowded round him, and
tried to stop his speaking, but the Princess said, —

" Silence ! I insist upon it. It does no harm
for me to hear him, and I will not allow you to
stop him in this way. Thank you, little boy, for
what you have said. And for you," she added,
turning to Jack's first friend, " I am not the least
angry with you, and I particularly desire that no
one shall mention this to my father;" but just as
she stopped speaking, a cloud of smoke was seen
rolling over the hills, and the ladies cried, —

"The King! the King!"

" Go ! go ! " cried the Princess to Jack, and the
fire-man without more ado seized him, and placing
him on his shoulders flew through the air with
him at a great rate, and was far from the palace
before Jack could get breath to speak.

" A fine mess you have nearly got me into ! "
grumbled the little man. "It will be the last
time I ever take you anywhere with me, you may

o

194 Through the Fire.

be sure. What would have happened to me if
the King had come up and heard you talking to
the Princess of the very subject he had forbidden
us all to mention ? "

Jack dared not say a word, as his companion
was so angry, and on they went flying through
the air at a dreadful pace. At last they reached
the long dark tunnel and flew up it, and when
they again came towards the light, the little man
took Jack from his shoulders and flung him away
with all his force, and he remembered nothing
more till he found himself lying on the hearth-
rug in his own room. It might all have been a
dream, only he was so sure it wasn't

The fire had gone out, and the only light in the
room came from the street lamps. Jack jumped
up and searched everywhere for any trace of the
little man, but could find none. He ran to the
fireplace and called, but there was no answer,
and at last he went shivering and cold to bed to
dream of the Princess and the strange bright
country underground, of which no one knows.

*

Through the Fire. 195

N the morning he was awoke
by his mother placing a
little parcel in his hand
as she kissed him. Jack
was delighted when he
opened it and found some
crackers and sugar cakes
and a wooden soldier off a Christmas-tree. He
amused himself all the morning playing with
them, but he could not forget the fire-people and
the pale pretty Princess. He dared not tell his
mother, lest he might make the fire-man angry, and
prevent his showing himself again. Next evening
he was alone again, and sat looking anxiously
between the bars, but nothing could he see of
the fire-people. Then he ran to the window and
looked out, in search of the water Prince or the
little wind-fairy, but neither could he see, though
it rained hard, and the wind blew loudly. So night
after night passed, his mother went out and he
was left alone, and yet he saw no trace of him,
and he began to fear he should never know more
of the fire-people.

O 2

196 Through the Fire.

New Years-eve came, and Jack's mother had
to go out and leave him to watch the new year
in alone. It was a miserable night. It rained in
torrents, and the wind blew, in great melancholy
gusts. Jack sat by the window, and looked
out on the wet street and the driving clouds.
He had given up looking in the fire for his
little red friend, and to-night he was busy
thinking of the new year which would begin
to-morrow.

" When this next year is done," he said to him-
self, " I shall be eight years old. Mother says I
am very small of my years. I wonder if I shall
be bigger then."

" Little Jack," called a low sighing voice from
the grate.

Jack started, and ran to the fireplace. The
fire was almost out. There was only a dull
red glare in the coals, but kneeling in it,
holding on to the bars, was the fire Princess.
She was paler than before, and looked quite
transparent. Jack could see the coals plainly
through her.

" Put on some more coal," she said, shivering.
" There is not enough for me to burn here, and

Through the Fire. 197

if I don't keep up a good blaze I shall go out
altogether."

Jack did as he was bid, and then sat down on
the hearthrug, staring at the Princess with all
his might. Her long bright hair fell over the
bars, and though her face looked very small and
pale, her eyes were immense, and glittered like
diamonds.

" How beautiful you are !" he said at last

" Am I ? " said the Princess with a sigh. " So
my Prince said. It was with the greatest diffi-
culty I managed to get here to-night, but I was
determined to come. Ever since I saw you, I
have thought of you so much."

" Have you ?" said Jack, still staring.

" Yes, you were so sorry for me, and all my
people are so unkind. Now I want you to do
me a favour."

" What is it ?" asked Jack.

" Let the Prince come here and speak to
me."

" How am I to bring him ? " said Jack.

" I will show you. Is it raining to-night ?"

"Yes, fast."

" That is very lucky ; some of his people are

198 Through the Fire.

sure to be about. Then all you must do is, to
open the window and wait."

" But the rain will come into the room," said
Jack. '

" No, it will not, and if it does it will not do
you any harm. You can't be quenched with
water. Be a good boy, and do as I tell you."

So Jack threw open one of the windows. A
great gust of wind blew into the room, and
blew the cold wet rain into his face. The fire
around the Princess broke out into a blaze,
and then sank away, but she did not move, but
called to Jack to stand between her • and the
window to keep off the draught and wet. He
did as she bade him, and then she began to
sing.

First she sang in a low voice, then her
song grew louder and louder, and clearer and
clearer. At last she stopped and said, —

" Now, little Jack, look on the window-sill and
tell me what you see."

Jack ran to the window, and just outside,
seated on the sill, in a little pool of water, was a
tiny man dressed in a dull green dress. He had
long wavy hair, that looked heavy and wet, and

Through the Fire. 199

his clothes were shiny with water. He eyed
Jack very crossly for a minute or two, then he
said, —

" Who are you, and what do you want ? "

" Tell him," whispered the Princess, " that
he must bring Prince Fluvius here ; " and Jack
repeated to the water-fairy what she said.

" And who are you who dares to ask me to
bring the Prince ? " said he. " Do you think our
Prince is to be taken about anywhere and every-
where, just because mortals want him." But, on
hearing this, the Princess began to sing again
in the same soft voice, growing louder and
louder, till the water-fairy sprang up, promising
to bring Prince Fluvius, or do anything else Jack
wished, if only the song would cease, as he could
not endure the heat, for it was a spell the
Princess sang, and if she had gone on he would
have been dried up altogether.

Then the Princess leaned back amongst the
coals in silence. The water-fairy at once
disappeared, and Jack stood at the window
watching for what would come with great
interest.

The rain fell in torrents, and suddenly the

200 Through the Fire.

room began to grow very dark. When the
Princess saw this she raised her head.

" He is coming," she said ; and immediately
there shot out from her, on all sides, a brilliant
golden light, in the midst of which she looked
even more beautiful than before. Then there
floated up outside the window a white cloud,
which rested on the sill. The cloud opened,
and from it stepped the figure of a young man,
gorgeously dressed in silver and green. He
was about the size of the Princess, and next to
her Jack thought he was the most beautiful little
creature he had ever seen. He had long dark
curls hanging down, and a sweet pale face, with
eyes of a deep blue, just the colour of the sea.

At sight of Princess Pyra he started, and
would have dashed right up to the bars, had
she not begged him for both their sakes not to
come inside the window.

" It is you, my darling," he said, leaning into
the room. " And I believed I should never see
you again. Oh, let me only once take you in
my arms ! "

" Do not think of such a thing," called the
Princess. "It would be fatal to us both."

Through the Fire. 201

" At any rate, we should perish together," said
Prince Fluvius.

" And how much better to live together ! "
said the Princess.

"If that were possible/' said the Prince,
sighing.

" And it is possible," said the Princess.
" Since I last saw you I have learnt that there
is only one person in the world who can help
us, and that is the old man who sits on the
North Pole. He knows everything, and could
we but send to him and ask his advice, he would
tell us what to do."

" But how are we to send to him ? " said the
Prince. "If you were to go, the sea would
surely quench you on the way, and I should
be frozen directly I got to the ice-people,
and never return to you. As for the wind-
fairies, who are constantly there, they are such
silly little things, they could never remember a
message. "

" Little Jack," cried the Princess, turning
towards him, " you will go for us, will you not ? "

" I ? " cried Jack, frightened. " How am I
to go ?"

202 Through the Fire.

" Nothing can be easier. One of the wind-
fairies will take you and bring you back — as the
Prince will direct. You shall go, to-night. Now,
dear Jack, you will do it for us, will you not ?
And we shall be so grateful."

Jack did not know what to say, but he looked
first at the Prince sitting on the window-sill with
the rain pouring around him, looking wistfully
towards him, with his handsome mournful eyes ;
then he looked at the Princess kneeling on the
glowing coals, entreating him with clasped hands
to help them, while sparks fell from her bright
eyes. And they were both so beautiful that he
could not bear to refuse them, and was silent.

The Princess saw at once that he wavered,
and said, smiling, " Then it is settled ; you will
go for us. And now, dear little Jack, listen
very carefully to all the directions we give you,
and be sure you do all we tell you. The old
man at the North Pole is very mischievous
and cunning, and always does his best to deceive
any one who comes to him for help. And there
is one thing of which you must be very careful.
You must not, whatever happens, ask him more
than one question. The first question that he is

Through the Fire. 203

asked he is bound to answer truthfully, but if
you ask him more than one, he will at once
seize you and keep you under the ice. He will
do all he can to tempt you to ask more than
one, but you must not mind him. And be sure
to remember exactly what he says about me."

" What am I to say, then ? " asked Jack.

" Say, ' I come from the fire Princess Pyra,
and she is in love with Prince Fluvius, the
water Prince, and wants to know how they are
to be married ; ' and then shut your lips and
do not speak again, whatever he says. When
you come to the ice-country, you will find it
very cold, so I shall give you a fire-ball to keep
you warm. And be sure you do not stop and
talk to the ice-people, for if you do you will be
frozen to death."

" How am I to go ? " asked Jack again.

" Go to the window, and you will see the wind-
fairy who is to take you."

Jack did as he was told, and saw standing
beside Prince Fluvius a little man dressed in light
dust-coloured clothes, which hung on him loosely,
seeming barely to touch him.

His face was very cheerful, but there was

204 Through the Fire.

scarcely any expression in it, and whenever he
moved there came a violent gust of wind.

" Are you ready ? " asked the Prince, kindly.

" Yes," said Jack, feeling very much frightened.

" You need not be afraid, little Jack," said
Prince Fluvius ; " you have nothing to do but to
sit on his shoulders, and he will take you quite
safely."

So saying he touched him on the head, and
Jack began to feel himself growing smaller and
smaller, till he was the same size as the Prince
and Princess.

" Come on, then," said the wind-fairy, in an odd
gusty voice. Jack sat down on his shoulders in
the same way as he had before sat upon the fire-
fairy, and they prepared to start.

" Good-bye, little Jack," called the Princess
from the fire. "When your turn comes, you
will find that we shall not forget to help
you."

" Good-bye, little Jack," echoed the Prince.
" Do not forget all we have told you, and be sure
you ask no second question of the old man."

" Good-bye," called Jack, and off they went.
The rain beat into Jacks face, and he felt giddy

Through the Fire. 205

with the rate at which they flew, but he was
silent, and held on tightly to the wind-fairy s
neck.

On they went in silence, going over the tops of
the houses, among the chimney-tops, in a way
Jack thought frightful. Then they came to the
country, and flew over fields and lanes. At last
the clouds cleared away, and the moon came out,
and Jack could see where they were going. He
was getting more used to his position now, and
felt less afraid to look about him. They flew
over woods and rivers, and passed villages, which
looked in the distance as small as if they were
made of toy houses and churches. At last they
came in sight of the sea, and Jack could keep
silence no longer, but burst out, —

" I hope we are not going over there ? "

" Indeed we are," said, or rather puffed out, his
companion, for his words came out like a gust of
wind. " I thought you were never going to speak,
and I did not like to speak first. How are you ?
I hope you feel pretty comfortable."

" Pretty well," answered Jack. " But I am
afraid if we cross the sea I shall tumble in."

" No, you shan't," said the other. " I shall keep

206 Through the Fire.

tight hold of you. Oh ! it's splendid when one
gets into the middle of the sea. It's worth blow-
ing there."

" Won't it be very cold ? " asked Jack.

" Nothing to speak of," said his companion,
carelessly. " When we get among the ice and
snow you may be chilly, but I've got the fire-ball
the Princess gave me to blow in front of us,
and that will keep you warm. I wonder what
it is you want to ask the old man. Won't you
tell me ? "

" I think I'd better not," said Jack. "I sup-
pose he is a very wise old man."

" Wise ! He knows everything, and whatever
you ask he's sure to give you, as long as it's the
first question. Now we are going over the
water."

Then they began to cross the sea. Jack, who
had quite got over his fear, enjoyed the journey.
The sea danced and sparkled beneath them.
The moon threw a silver crest on the top of each
tiny wave. Here and there were little ships sail-'
ing briskly along in the breeze. Soon they lost
sight of land altogether, and then Jack thought
it was glorious.

Through the Fire. 207

Nothing but the bright sparkling sea all round
for miles. He laughed aloud for pleasure, and
would have been quite happy, only for a thought —
a naughty little thought — which would keep coming
into his mind, and which grew and grew in spite
of himself. He put up his hands to his head to
keep it out, but there it was all the same, and
there it remained. It was this — Why should he
not ask the old man something for himself, instead
of asking him about' the Princess at all ? Who
would ever know ? Why should he not ask him
to make him straight and well ? How pleased his
mother would be if she came home that night to
find her little boy a cripple no longer. How easy
it would be to invent something to tell the
Princess, and no one else would tell the truth.
He knew it was naughty. He had promised,
and he ought to keep his promise, and he thought
of the Princess's pale face and the Princes sad
voice. And then he thought of his mother, and
his own dull home, and could scarcely keep from
crying.

" Listen ! " said the wind-fairy. " Don't you
hear some one singing ? "

Jack listened, and heard a sad sweet voice

208 Through the Fire.

singing a song, which was more beautiful than
anything he had ever heard before.

" That is a mermaid," said the wind-fairy, " and
she is singing to a ship. She will go on singing

Through the Fire. 209

until the ship follows the sound. Then she will
gradually lead it down into a whirlpool, and there
it will be swallowed up, and the poor sailors will
never return to their wives and little children.
But I will go and blow the ship in another
direction, whether it likes it or no, until it is out
of the sound of her song, and then it will go on
all right. Ah ! men little think, when they com-
plain of meeting gales of wind, that it is often for
their own good, and that we are blowing them
away from danger, not into it."

" A mermaid ! " cried Jack. " I have never
seen one. How much I should like to see
her ! "

" When we have gone to the ship we will go
and look at her," said the wind-fairy. Then he
flew to one side, till they came to a ship full of
sailors sailing quietly along, and the wind-fairy
began to blow with all his might. He blew till
the sea rose in great heavy waves. The ship
leaned over on one side. The captain shouted.
The sailors threw up the ropes, and all trembled
for fear. But much against their will the ship
had to be turned about and go in another direc-
tion, and the wind-fairy never left off blowing till

p

210 Through the Fire.

she was many miles away from the sound of the
mermaid's song.

" Now we will go and look at the mermaid,"
said he ; and back they flew again to the same
spot. There, beneath them, resting on the top
of the waves, Jack saw a very beautiful maiden.
She had sad green eyes and long green hair.
When he looked closer he saw that she had a
long bright tail instead of legs, but he thought
her very beautiful all the same. She was still
singing in a sad sleepy voice, and as he listened
he began to long to jump into the sea beside her.
And the longing grew so strong that he would
have thrown himself into her arms at once, had
not the wind-fairy seized him and flown off with
him before he had time.

How pleased the windrfairy was about the
ship !

" I am so glad we came up," he said. " A few
minutes later and the mermaid would have got it,
and I could have done nothing ; " and he laughed
for pleasure.

Then when Jack thought of the poor ship,
and how nearly she had perished, and saw how
glad the good little wind-man was that he had

Through the Fire. 211

saved her, all the naughty thoughts left his
mind.

" Surely," he said to himself, " if this poor silly
little wind-fairy can be so glad when he has done
a good deed, I ought to be glad to help other
people and not to think of myself;" and he made
up his mind that whatever happened he would
not desert the Princess, but would do exactly
what she had told him.

On they went. Presently it began to grow very
cold. In the sea beneath were great lumps of
floating ice, and all sorts of strange sea monsters
were springing about.

"We had better stop here, and I will get out
the Princess's fire-ball," said the fairy, and he
placed Jack on a great lump of floating ice. On
it there sat a family of seals, and much frightened
they looked when he was dropped amongst
them.

" Don't you know," said the old seal, turning
sharply to him, " that it is exceedingly rude to
come into a person's block of ice without asking
leave ? "

" I am very sorry, I am sure," murmured Jack.

" Let him alone," said another younger seal ;

p 2

212 Through the Fire.

" I am sure he is very nice-looking. Would you
like me to fetch you a little fish ? I dare say
you're very hungry, and I can catch you some
in a moment if you like it."

Jack had not time to refuse before an older
seal turned to him and said, —

" I am in want of a servant, if that's what you
are come for, and as you are a nice tidy-looking
person, I don't mind trying you ; only I am very
particular about my ice being bright, and the
water all round it being kept clean."

They were all crowding round him, when the
wind-fairy came up, and with one puff sent them
all into the water again.

" See," he said, taking Jack up again, " I have
sent on the ball before us, and it will keep you
nice and warm."

Jack looked in front of him and saw a great
ball of light, which the wind-fairy blew along as
he went, and which sent out a soft warmth.

" How did you manage to carry it ? " he asked
of the fairy.

"It was quite a little thing when Princess
Pyra gave it to me," he answered, " no bigger
than a spark of light, and I have blown it up to

Through the Fire. 213

Its present size. I doubt if it will keep alight till
after we reach the North Pole, but it will keep
you warm till then, and I shall be able to bring
you back very quickly. Now we are coming to
the ice-world."

Looking about him, Jack saw that the blocks
of ice were growing larger and larger as they
went on, and the spaces of water less and less,
until at last they disappeared altogether, and
nothing could be seen but an immense plain of
solid ice. The moon shone upon it brightly,
and moving noiselessly over the surface were a
number of almost transparent forms of men and
women, with deadly white faces and cold glitter-
ing eyes. They never spoke, but moved about
swiftly and silently. They fled at the sight of
the fire-ball, but when they saw Jack some of
them stopped and motioned to him to stop too.

" Who are they ? " he asked.

" They are ice-people," said his guide ; " they
live on the ice, and never speak, but always glide
about as you see them now."

" Why mayn't we stop and see them ? " said
Jack.

His companion said nothing, but pointed down

214 " Through the Fire.

to where some dark heavy-looking figures lay
motionless beneath the clear ice.

" Do yOu see ? " he said. " These are the bodies
of men and women whom the ice-people have
caught and frozen to death. If any unfor-
tunate ship is wrecked among the ice-blocks, the
ice-people at once flock round it and seize the
passengers, and carry them over here and freeze
them. They are as wicked and cruel as the
mermaids. If I were to leave you for only a
second, you would be frozen, and nothing could
save you. Now we are coming near the North
Pole. Look over there."

Jack looked away across the ice, and saw a
clear pink light that darted up into the sky in
bars. It seemed to come from a curious dark
lump in the form of a mushroom, which stood up
into the air.

" That is the North Pole," said his friend, " and
the light comes from the old man's lantern/'

" Does he live there all alone ? " asked Jack.

"All alone, and he quarrels with every one.
He used to be very good friends with the old
man at the South Pole, and they often slid up
and down the Pole to see each other. But one

Through the Fire. 215

day they had a quarrel, and now they're not on
speaking terms. "

" What did they quarrel about ? " inquired
Jack.

" How should I know ? " said the wind-fairy, a
little crossly. " One really can't be expected to
remember all these little things ; " for the wind-
fairies cannot bear to be reminded of their want
of memory. " Now say what you have to say to
him quickly, and get it done, and then Til take
you back." So saying, he put him down on the
ice, and sat down himself a little way off.

Jack looked about him, and began to think he
must be dreaming. It was such a strange scene.
All round was the clear cold ice, and just in front
of him was the great lump in the form of a
mushroom, made of some thick shining stuff like
ivory, and seated right in the middle of it was a
little old man. He nursed his knees with his
arms and hugged a huge brown lantern full of
holes, from which shot up into the air on each
side the long bright pink rays which Jack had
seen before. The old man wore a big brown
cloak, and on his head a small skull-cap, from
beneath which fell his long straight white hair.

2l6

Through the Fire.

He was a very ugly old man ; there was no
doubt about that His face was almost flat, and
he had a large hook-nose. He seemed to be

asleep, for his head hung over on one side, and
his eyes were shut Jack dared not wake him,
and stood watching him. He might have re-
mained there for ever ; the old man would never

Through the Fire. 217

have moved of himself, if the wind-fairy had not
blown a tremendous gust, which made the pink
light in the lantern flicker, and the old man start
up and open his eyes and see Jack.

" And who are you ? " he asked, in a deep
rolling voice. " Come to ask a question, I am
sure. No one ever comes to see me unless they
want to ask something. Come nearer and let me
see you."

Jack drew near to the old mans seat, trembling
much. He tried to remember what the Princess
had told him to say, but somehow or other it had
gone out of his head, and he did not know how
to begin.

" Now what is it ? " asked the old man, with a
low chuckle. " Do you want me to tell you how
to grow tall and straight, or where to find a big
bag of money to take home to your mother ?
What do you want ? Speak out, and don't be
afraid."

Again the naughty thoughts came back into
Jack's mind. He looked across to where the
wind-fairy had fallen asleep on the ice. He gazed
up at the pink light shining into the black sky.
He thought of his mother, then of the poor fire

218 Through the Fire.

Princess, and making a violent effort, and shutting
his eyes that he might not see the grinning face
of the old man, he said, —

" I'm come from the fire Princess, Princess
Pyra, and she wants to marry the water Kings
son, Prince Fluvius, and they're afraid of touching
each other, lest he should be dried up, or she put
out. So, please, they want to know what to do."

Here Jack stopped, and opened his eyes, and
saw that the old man was shaking so with
laughter that he feared he would tumble off the
Pole altogether. He went on chuckling for such
a time that Jack thought he would never stop.
And when he had done, it was some time before
he could find breath to speak, but sat panting and
sighing, and every now and then beginning to
laugh afresh. After a time, however, he was more
calm, and then he said, —

" Oh, the stupidity of people ! And all this
time they are afraid of doing the very thing they
ought to do. Of course it's impossible for them
to marry till he is dried up, or she is put out.
What puts out fire but water ? and what dries up
water but fire ? Princess Pyra has been edu-
cated at a good school. I should think she might

Through the Fire. 219

have known better. You had better go back to
Prince Fluvius, and tell him to give her a
kiss;" and then the old man began to laugh
again.

Jack stood by, sorely puzzled ; yet he dared not
ask again. Then the old man turned to him, and
said, —

" And now what do you want to ask next ?
Let it be something for yourself this time, my
little man. What shall it be ? I'll tell you what-
ever you want to know."

A dozen questions flashed into Jacks mind at
once. How he longed to ask them ! But he
remembered the Princess's warning, and held his
tongue. He looked at the wind-fairy, who was
still asleep, and wondered how he could wake him.
The ice was so slippery that he dared not walk
upon it. He was just trying to move off gently,
when the old man caught him by his wrist with a
long skinny hand, and held him firmly back.

" Come, now," he said, coaxingly, while his
eyes sparkled cunningly ; " you'll never go back
after asking only one question, when you have
come so far. That would be very foolish. Ask
something else while you are here."

220 Through the Fire.

He held Jack so tightly that he began to be
frightened, and gave a violent wriggle, which
knocked over the old man's lantern. It fell with
an enormous crash, and woke the wind-fairy, who
was at his side in an instant.

" Well," he said, " are you ready ? "

" Quite," said Jack, his teeth chattering with
fear, for the old fellow had flown into a violent
rage, and was stretching out his long thin arms to
catch him ; but the wind-fairy blew in his face till
he was forced to shut his eyes, and turn his head
away. Then he took Jack on his shoulders, and
flew off with him without another word.

" The fire-ball is gone out," he said to Jack, after
they had gone a little way ; " so I'm afraid you'll
be cold. If you feel sleepy you may as well go
to sleep. I won't let you fall ; and I am about to
go so quickly that you won't see anything we
pass. "

Jack did feel both sleepy and cold, and was very
glad to fall into a doze, although he woke every
now and then to ask if they were getting near
home. At last the fairy said, " Now we are over
London, and you'll be home in a few minutes."

" I hope my mother isn't come home yet," said

Through the Fire. 221

Jack. " She'd be so frightened if she came back,
and didn't find me."

" Come back ! " laughed the fairy. " Why, it
isn't twelve o'clock yet, and the New Year is not
come in. Here is the street where you live."

Jack could not believe that they had not been
gone more than an hour. It seemed more like
twenty.

From outside the window he could see the
Prince kneeling on the sill in exactly the same
position as when he had left him, and he wondered
if the Princess was still sitting in the fire. Yes.
When the wind-fairy placed him in the middle of
the room, there she was in exactly the same place,
with her golden hair falling over the bars.

"Well," cried she and the Prince together,
" what did he say, little Jack ? Tell us at once."

" I'm so cold," said Jack ; " I'm almost frozen."

The Princess made a great blaze in the coals
till the room was quite light. Then she turned to
Jack again.

" Now," she said, " you must be warm. Do not
keep us any longer in suspense."

Jack hesitated for a minute ; then he looked at
the Princess, and repeated what the old man had

222 Through the Fire.

said. "'What puts out fire but water? what
dries up water but fire ? Tell him to give her a
kiss ! ' "

Both Prince and Princess were silent when they
heard this. Then the Prince said, with a sigh, —

" It is as I thought. He means that there is
no hope for us, and that we must perish together.
For my part, I am quite willing, as anything
would be better than life without you, my Pyra."

" He meant no such thing," cried the Princess.
"And I think now I begin to understand him.
We must both be changed before we can be
happy. Come, then, my Prince ; I have no fear,
and will willingly risk being quenched altogether,
if there is a chance of our union. ,,

So saying, the Princess rose up, and stepped
lightly from the grate on to the floor, surrounded
by a halo of shining flame.

Jack screamed aloud, afraid lest the room
should take fire ; but in the same moment the
Prince swept down from the window, and a flood
of water splashed on to the floor. Then, without
another word, the two rushed into each other's
arms.

A great crash — a sound like a clap of thunder ;

Through the Fire. 223

then the room was filled with smoke, through
which Jack could see nothing. He felt frightened,
and inclined to cry ; but in a minute or two he
heard the soft voice of the Princess, calling to
him, —

" Jack, Jack ! " and he saw the smoke clearing
away.

There, in the middle of the room, stood the
Princess Pyra — the same, yet not the same ;
and beside her was Prince Fluvius, like himself
in face and figure, and yet altered. His arm was
about the Princess, and she leaned her head on
his shoulder.

She was no longer surrounded by flames, and
the weird brightness had passed from her face and
dress.

Her hair looked softer and glittered less, and
her eyes no longer seemed to burn, but beamed
on Jack with a soft, mild light. The coloured
catherine-wheel had disappeared from her bosom,
and in its place was a bunch of real water-lilies.
The Prince was no less changed. His eyes were
bright and clear, his hair had lost its wet gloss,
and was dry and curly ; his clothes looked crisp
and firm.

224 Through the Fire.

The Princess bent her head with a sob, and
this time real tears fell from her eyes. The
Prince stooped to kiss them away, and as he
did so the clock began to strike twelve, and all
the bells in the great city rang out to tell the
world that the New Year was born. And as
they rang, the room was filled with the strangest
forms. Fairies, goblins, elves, beautiful, ugly,
and strange, floated in at the open window, and
pressed around the Prince and Princess, and
filled every nook and corner of the room. But
they all looked kindly at Jack, and smiled at him,
whilst he sat and cried for joy. With every
stroke of the clock, with every clash of the bells,
their number increased, but at the sixth stroke,
the young couple rose from the ground, and began
to float slowly towards the window.

" Good-bye, little Jack ; we shall never forget
you," called the Princess, as she floated away, and
she waved her hand and smiled sweetly.

" Good-bye, little Jack," echoed the Prince ;
" we shall come when you want us ; " and as the
clock struck the last stroke of twelve they passed
out of the window. But still the Princess looked
back, and kissed her hand. Then all the strange

Through the Fire. 225

company who had filled the room a moment

before, arose and floated away around the Prince

and Princess, and the room was left empty and

cold, and little Jack was left alone.

******

A whole year had passed away, and Jack was
turned seven years old. A whole long year, and
he had heard or seen nothing of his fairy friends.

He had stirred the fire, he had watched the
water, but in vain. They had gone, he feared,
never to return, and he was fast beginning to
think it must all have been a strange dream.

Christmas had come round again, but this was
a very different Christmas to last year's, for little
Jack was very ill, sick unto death, and lay in bed
and could not move. His mother went out to no
parties, for all day and night she sat by her little
boy's bedside. How she cried ! Jack could not
quite understand why, for, when he was not in
pain, he liked very well to lie in bed, with his
mother sitting beside him to pet and amuse him.

Christmas week passed, and New Years-eve
came. His mother was so weary with watching,
that she could keep awake no longer, and slept in
spite of herself, in the arm-chair at the bedside.

Q

226 Through the Fire.

Jack lay still, looking at the bright new moon
through the window. A white crisp layer of
snow covered the housetops, on which the moon's
light shone silver and clear. As he lay and
watched, the candle flickered down in its socket,
and then went out altogether.

" This time last year I saw the Princess," said
Jack to himself, " but I shan't see her again," and
he sighed.

" Little Jack," called a low sweet voice that
made him start and tremble.

He looked up at the window, and there, stand-

»

ing in a moonbeam, was the Princess, looking far
more beautiful even than before, and the Prince
stood close beside her.

" Did you think you would never see us
again ? " she asked. " But this will be for the
last time, for we are going to live on the other
side of the moon, and shall never come ,back
again. Now see what we have brought you.
This is a magic belt, and we have been a whole
year making it. You must put it on, and it will
make you quite strong, and in a few years you
will no longer be a cripple."

Jack then saw that between them they bore a

Through the Fire. 227

kind of silver hoop, which they carried to the
bedside, and the Princess said, —

" No one will know it is there, for direcdy it is
upon you it will become invisible. Neither will
you feel it yourself. Now sit up, and I will put
it on for you."

" Thank you, dear Princess," said Jack, sitting
up in bed.

Then the Prince and Princess slipped the belt
over Jacks head, and fastened it round his waist,
but when it was on he could neither feel nor see it.

"Then farewell, dear little Jack," said they.
" This time we part for ever." And the Princess
stooped and kissed Jack on his forehead. Such
a kiss it was, he had never felt anything so nice
in his life. •

" Good-bye, dear, kind Princess," he said,
huskily, stretching out his hands towards her, for
he felt very sad at the thought that he should
never see her again.

Then both Prince and Princess floated up the
moonbeam, and the Princess looked back and
kissed her hand as before, and they flew out of
the window, and Jack never saw them again.

But the next day, when the doctor came, he said

228 Through the Fire.

Jack was much better, and would soon be well, and
it was all the new medicine he had given him.

And when Jack told his mother about the
Princess, and the wonderful belt he wore, she only
shook her head and said with a smile, " Dear boy,
you have had a dream, and I am glad it was such
a pleasant one."

Years afterwards, when he had grown to be a
tall strong boy, he often felt for the belt, but never
could find it ; and when his mother rejoiced over
his cure, and said it all came of his growing so
much stronger after the illness he had had that
winter, he smiled to himself and said, —

" Nay, it all came of my going to the North
Pole for the fire Princess."

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